Gundam SEED: True Feelings
by Prayer Reverie
Summary: The War is over, and now the future must be faced. Epilogue Uploaded.
1. Seen and Unseen, The Descending Sword

Gundam SEED: True Feelings

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED**_

Summary: AU/What-if? Spoilers for those who haven't seen all of SEED yet ….  
What if Rau didn't capture Flay during Operation Spit-Break? How would Kira deal with this? And what would the Alliance do?

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Chapter 1: Seen and Unseen, the Descending Sword

"Siegel Clyne! I have bad news, it appears that Zala has deceived us." Eileen Canaver said, holding in the franticness of the news

"How so?" Siegel asked.

"It appears that Operation Spit-Break's target isn't Panama, its Alaska!" she told him.

"Alaska!" the shock was evident in his voice.

Kira dropped his cup of tea, breaking it and the saucer dish underneath as the news sunk into him.

"Kira?" Lacus asked worriedly

"He's planning to destroy the Earth Alliance with one fell swoop. The council didn't approve anything of this nature." Eileen continued, apparently unaware of Kira.

"Kira." Lacus repeated, moving to his side and gently putting her hands on his shoulders.

Alaska was the _Archangel's_ destination since their ill-fated descent to Earth, and all of Kira's friends and crewmates were there. Sai, Miriallia, Kuzzey, Natarle, Kojiro, Mu, Murrue … and Flay. He clutched his heart as the memories threatened to overwhelm him.

"Kira." Lacus said sadly.

"What the hell is going on here?" Mu asked as he surveyed the people around him, trying to ignore the annoying whistle being blown.

"I guess they're still sending troops off to Panama." Natarle replied, leaning in to look at Flay's transfer papers. "The ship you'll be on is headed in that direction. Where's yours Commander?"

Mu drew his attention back to the present reality. "Hm? Oh, I'm with this little lady right here."

"Is that right." Natarle said a hint of sadness evident.

The ZAFT forces continued their journey towards Operation Spit-Break's target while the Earth Alliance was seemingly oblivious. Natarle raised her hand to salute her superior officer.

"Goodbye Commander …" she looked down to see his hand outstretched.

"Yeah, you take care, Lieutenant." Her hand moved from her head down to Mu's and he shook it firmly.

She looked at her hand a little oddly as Mu and Flay departed to find their boat, and Natarle turned to do the same.

"How's the evacuation coming?" an Earth Alliance officer asked.

"I'd say another three more vessels." His superior informed him.

"Does that give us enough time?" the first asked.

"There's no way they'll get to the deepest levels that quickly." He replied confidently.

Natarle found her ship and quickly boarded it, taking one last look at the docking bay before the doors sealed shut.

"Just line up here. You'll have to show these papers when your turn comes up. Understand?" Mu told Flay, handing the girl her boarding papers.

He turned to leave.

"What?" she asked confused at his sudden departure.

"Ah, I forgot something." He said lamely, tossing her a wave as he left.

The control room of the JOSH-A base was oddly deserted despite the sensors showing incoming forces. The enemy passed by the outer proximity alarms, setting the alarms off in the base for all to hear. Everyone looked around in confusion and from the horizon, an attack force appeared.

Dozens of ZAFT VolPHAU carrier planes opened their cargo bay doors to unleash their deadly cargo: GINN and CGUE mobile suits. The automated defenses of the Alaska headquarters immediately activated, opening fire and downing a few suits before being destroyed, their positions having been previously pinpointed thanks to accurate intelligence. BuCUEs dropped and started their attacks as the sea bound GOOhN underwater mobile suits exited their Vosgulov-class submarine carriers.

"Incoming message from the Joint Operations room." Kuzzey announced.

"Captain Sutherland! What's going on?" Murrue asked as the image of Sutherland appeared onscreen.

"All defense forces are to launch at once and commence interception." He ordered.

A surprised reaction ran through the bridge crew as Sutherland continued. "They tricked us! At the last minute they switched their target here to JOSH-A."

Missiles struck targets along the base, from defense outposts to underwater defense nets. Officers in the docking bay attempted to maintain control and still get everyone onboard.

"Everyone hurry up and get onboard." One said.

Flay looked around her and made up her mind to run. Mu was running through the corridors, silently cursing ZAFT and the EA. Then something clicked in his mind and it didn't help to explain the situation.

"Damnit, what the hell is going on here? This place is empty!" he muttered as he stepped inside a freight elevator and started it up.

"Fighting under these overwhelming conditions is suicidal, but we can't afford to lose Headquarters." Murrue said.

"Captain!" Arnold interrupted, turning from his helm console.

"All hands proceed to Level One Battle Stations! We've been given our orders and the _Archangel_ is taking off." she ordered.

Kuzzey was not so confident. "You're kidding, without Kira or the Commander?"

Lacus entered the small glass gazebo to see what Kira was doing. "Uh, Kira?"

Kira turned and smiled weakly as tears began to roll down his face. Lacus almost knew what he was going to say.

"It's time … I left here." he said.

"Where were you thinking of going?" she asked politely.

"I have to return to Earth."

"Why? Even if you go, you can't end the war by yourself."

He nodded. "I know, but I can't just stay here any longer doing nothing."

"If you just did nothing, because you thought it wouldn't help, then you'd end up doing less than nothing, for nothing would change, and nothing would end." He explained.

"Will you be fighting against the ZAFT forces again?" Lacus asked.

Kira shook his head slowly. "Then, the Earth forces?" she continued.

He shook his head again and explained it to her. "I now believe that I have a much better understanding of what we should be fighting against."

Lacus smiled. "Very well, I understand."

A servant held an elite ZAFT uniform in front of Kira and Lacus, and she turned to him.

"Please put this on Kira."

Kira looked at her oddly as she turned her head to the servant. "I'd like you to inform them that from now on, Lacus Clyne will be singing the song of peace."

The ZAFT assault progressed with Duel leading several Guul-mounted GINNs on a strafing run against Earth Alliance naval vessels. GOOhNs surfaced to finish the job as Rau flew towards his objective.

"Now, the curtain has risen and it's time for the actors to show their talents!" he said poetically.

Rau's DINN entered a secret waterfall entrance and noticed that Azrael's information was correct. Flay stumbled down the corridor, wondering where the _Archangel_ was.

Rau exited his DINN, using the lift cord to reach the ground safely. And as Rau broke into a run, a familiar tingling sensation jolted through Mu's entire body.

"That feeling, is Rau Le Creuset here?" Mu wondered.

Rau studied the console screen in the control center with a lot of interest. Mu crept to the doorway, peering in to see if Rau was inside. His shadow crossed the screen and Rau turned to fire twice. Both shots missed and Rau ran to another set of consoles, allowing Mu to enter the room and avoid another two shots. Mu ducked behind a chair.

"It's been a while Mu La Flaga. I don't have time for fooling around; though we've only just met again I apologize for leaving so soon. But if you're still hanging around here then your usefulness to the Earth forces must be nearly at an end. Oh 'Hawk of Endymion' how the mighty have fallen." Rau fired twice more and then exited through a door.

By the time Mu took aim the masked man was out of sight. Lowering his weapon, Mu inspected the same screen that Rau was looking at and was horrified. It showed the Cyclops system, outlining the immediate details.

"Damnit." Mu cursed.

Flay continued slowly down the corridor as shouts were heard.

"A ZAFT soldier!"

"One of them got in!"

Gunshots and cries of pain were heard and Flay quickly ducked into the corridor intersection thankfully but a meter away. So relieved she had found shelter she didn't notice the EA soldier who fired once before taking a bullet to the heart. The man fell wordlessly to the floor and Flay was so surprised that she tripped over him, falling out into the open.

Seeing the gun on the floor, Flay quickly grabbed hold of it and pointed it at Rau who was advancing towards her, his gun aimed at her. He took one look at her and smiled in an odd way.

"Now this is interesting." He said.

"Daddy." Memories of George Alster flashed through Flay's mind as Rau looked at her.

Her gun slowly moved so that it wasn't aiming at him anymore. "That's my daddy's voice." She said, squeezing the trigger.

Rau bolted forwards and swiftly knocked her unconscious, grabbing hold of her before she hit the ground. He gazed at her almost fondly as a bullet nicked his left arm. Looking up he saw Mu charging forwards.

"Get away from her Rau!" he yelled, firing again.

Rau smirked and dropped Flay unceremoniously to the floor as he returned fire and ran again, out of sight in an instant. All of Rau's shots missed and Mu stopped as he glanced as Flay's unconscious form.

Growling, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. She moaned Kira's name as Mu ran off.

The _Archangel_ exited the dock, Igelstellung cannons firing full force.

"Wombats, Valiants fire!" Murrue ordered.

Missiles launched as the rail cannons fired, downing ZAFT forces, allowing the legged ship safe exit from their berth. The fight was just beginning.

The limousine sped onwards towards the hangar as Lacus told Kira hopefully everything he'd need to know. She raised her hand in a salute.

"And this is how it's done, like this. That's how a ZAFT soldier would greet another soldier."

Kira raised his own hand in a salute, copying Lacus exactly.

Kira was dressed in the elite red uniform as he and Lacus floated down the corridor, saluting two noncom officers as they went by.

"Good afternoon." Lacus greeted them politely.

Kira kept silent as Lacus nodded at two technicians to open the door. They slid their keycards through the reader slot simultaneously, allowing the door to open. The pair floated through the doorway and finally landed on a catwalk in front of a large object. The lights came up, revealing a state of the art mobile suit.

"A Gundam!" Kira exclaimed.

"Actually that's not what it's called." Lacus told him. "This is the ZGMF-X10A Freedom. But you know Gundam's better because it sounds more powerful."

"Under orders from Chairman Zala they designed a new machine with the same capabilities as the Earth Forces mobile suits they captured and then added state of the art technology to it."

"But why … are you letting me …"

"I feel that this machine has the power you're going to need. Neither will alone nor strength alone, will be enough, that's why." Lacus explained.

"Will this take you where you want to go? Will it help you when you get there?" she inquired.

"Neither will alone, or strength alone." He repeated, staring at the Freedom.

Kira looked at Lacus with a serious look on his face. "Who are you, really?"

"I am simply Lacus Clyne, and you are Kira Yamato." She replied.

"I'm grateful." He corrected.

Kira found a room to change in and quickly donned the red ZAFT flight suit and met Lacus at the cockpit hatch of Freedom.

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

"Yes, I too will be singing the great song of peace." She replied.

"Be careful."

"I will, you too Kira. My strength goes with you." She leaned in close to him.

Kira had heard similar words before the drop to Earth and for a moment, he pulled back. Lacus didn't notice or didn't care; she kissed him on the cheek. A faint blush rose to his cheeks as he nodded.

"And now, you should be on your way." She pushed off and Kira entered the cockpit.

He booted up the OS, noting that the words had changed to General Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Complex. Then something else caught his attention.

"N-Jammer Canceller? Amazing, it has over four times the power of the Strike."

The dual eyes flashed as he activated the phase-shift armor. _Neither will alone …_ the engines warmed up. _Or strength alone …_ Lacus waved goodbye to him as the doors closed. Alarms went off in the control center as the crew scrambled to find out why Freedom was active and who was piloting it. The launch doors opened, allowing access to space and Kira gunned the engines, taking off and leaving the PLANT, passing by two GINNs as they attempted to give chase.

Two more GINNs opened fire from ahead of him and he easily avoided their shots. Both pilots remarked at the speed of the rogue suit as Kira drew his beam saber and sliced both of the GINNs heads off, leaving them almost blind. Freedom sped onwards, passing by a ZAFT shuttle. Athrun looked out the view port in amazement as the suit continued towards Earth.

The assault on JOSH-A continued with the Alliance unsuccessfully holding the ZAFT forces back. The enemy pressed forward, destroying the new naval ships that were in their way. A glimmer of hope appeared to the remaining defenders, the _Archangel_ finally entered the fray head-on.

"Wombats fire!" Murrue ordered, and four missiles launched, taking out a few Guul-mounted GINNs.

"Incoming missiles." Warned Jackie Tonomura.

"Evade!" The _Archangel_ slid to the left, evading most of the missiles, but some managed to hit.

"Direct hit to starboard flight deck." Dalida Lolaha Chandra reported.

Duel and a squad of GINNs swept by a linear tank corps, shooting the tanks as they flew overhead. Yzak was not happy about the challenge they provided. Inside the city, Mu had managed to acquire a motorcycle, and propping the still-unconscious form of Flay on the bike, he sped towards a hangar as the images of the Cyclops system replayed in his mind. _Would they really … ergh, damnit!_.

He slid to a stop inside the building and closed the door, hopefully delaying any ZAFT forces that came that way.

The _Archangel_ moved to fill the position of a destroyed naval ship, firing its Gottfried cannons at a bunched up group of GINNs and CGUEs. Six DINNs closed in on the legged ship, and it was clear that ZAFT could easily win the battle through attrition alone.

"Damnit, Headquarters has been completely outmaneuvered." Dalida growled.

"Has the entire main force been sent to Panama?" Sai asked.

"That's what it boils down to." Dalida replied.

"But they're going to turn around and come back right?" Miriallia asked.

"Sure, but let's just hope they get here before we're completely wiped out." Jackie told them.

"Incoming missiles!" the _Archangel_ fired the powerful Gottfried beams into the center of the salvo of missiles destroying many and allowing the CIWS Igelstellung defense to destroy more. Some missiles managed to impact, sending shudders through the ship.

"So, they're sacrificing the Eurasian forces and the legged ship. Sometimes the Earth forces plans can be quite entertaining." Rau noted, observing the battle from afar.

He entered the DINNs cockpit and powered up. "The more guarded the vault is the more valuable the treasure is thought to be. I sincerely hope the legged ship can make it through this."

A blast struck the ground of the base just as Mu opened the door, coughing as he quickly ran through the billowing smoke, hoping to get Flay to safety. He ran to a noncom soldier on the line question the fate of the 11th Air Corp when Mu interrupted.

"Hey, tell me who's in charge here!" the reply was interrupted as a CGUE and three DINNs landed inside the fourth entrance and moved in, blasting any targets of value on their way.

A technician collapsed in fear as the hopelessness of the situation overwhelmed him. "Look you've got to withdraw from here, this base is being abandoned! Come on, get up! Gather the survivors and get out of here! Get at least ten kilometers from the base. You got that, it's an order!" Mu said, climbing up the cockpit of a Spearhead VTOL fighter and placing Flay in the second seat behind his.

"I didn't choose to be a hero, but …" Mu muttered, putting on a flight helmet as the tech ran off.

The canopy closed and sealed as a GINN landed in the entrance and raised its gun. Two missiles struck the hapless mobile suit, sending it backwards off the deck, plummeting. Mu launched, desperately thinking of way to survive.

A fleet of submarines continued their escape from JOSH-A, carrying carefully selected officers to freedom. Captain Sutherland entered the board room to inform his comrades of the news.

"The enemy has breached Gate 4, and they've started their first assault into the base interior. It won't be long before they reach the main gate, but my hope is that we can ensnare at least 80 percent of their forces."

Natarle was aboard one of the submarines, sitting on the cold deck with the rest of the officers. Two of them were attempting to converse quietly about the fate of JOSH-A and the rumor that it was all a trap for ZAFT. The news shocked Natarle, many people she knew were defending the base. She stood and confronted the two officers, still huddled behind a few crates.

More missiles struck the _Archangel_, damaging both Valiant rail cannons. Sai reported that the ship's damage was surpassing 30 percent. More reports about ships of the defense fleet being sunk flowed in, and Murrue demanded to know if Headquarters was responding.

"I can't get through to them! All I get is the same message repeated on all channels: all units hold your positions and return fire as the situation calls for." Kuzzey replied flustering.

"It's obvious that the chain of command has been cut." Arnold said. "Captain at this rate …"

An explosion rocked the ship and Sai wondered if any reinforcements from Panama were on their way. Jackie wasn't optimistic as more missiles were incoming. Mu flew overhead, finally locating the _Archangel_."

"Excellent, she's still hanging in their." Distracted, he didn't notice the CGUE until a few shots hit him, causing alarms to go off in his fighter.

"_Archangel_, this is La Flaga, do you read me? _Archangel_, answer me!" there was no response, so he increased his thrust, looping around to bring the ship into his sights.

"Incoming aircraft, it looks like it's damaged." Milly reported.

An image of Mu's fighter came on the screen as Murrue and Arnold questioned the sanity of the pilot.

"Deck crew, some nut in a fighter is going to land, take shelter!" Murrue warned.

"Everyone get out of my way!" Mu flew into the damaged bay at full speed, making a wobbly three-point landing before skidding sideways as the landing gear gave way.

The safety net caught the fighter and stopped it before it could hit anything and Mu popped the canopy, jumping out as he ran to the lift.

"Was that Commander La Flaga?" a tech asked.

"Get the girl to the medical bay!" he ordered before the lift doors shut.

The doors opened again, letting Mu step onto the bridge. "Captain!"

Murrue turned in shock as she heard his voice. "What the hell are you doing here Commander? What about your transfer?"

"That's not important; we have to get out of here right now." He informed her, standing beside her chair.

"This is one screwed up plan, what kind of orders did they give the defense forces?"

Murrue was speechless as the assault continued DINNs and a CGUE striking the city itself. Mu continued. "Now listen up, there's a large Cyclops system underneath Headquarters. That thing is powerful enough to turn everything within 10 kilometers of the base into a blast furnace."

"It's impossible to defend the base with what's left, and reinforcements from Panama won't make it in time. Soon the defenders will be gone and the main gate will come down and that's when headquarters will make the decision to activated the Cyclops and destroy the base. And in the process, they'll take out more than half of ZAFT's fighting strength! That's the scenario as imagined for this battle by the top brass."

The bridge crew was shocked and Murrue found her voice first. "It can't be!"

"I swear I saw it with my own eyes." Mu said. "The command center is completely empty. The only ones left to fight back are the Eurasian forces and the _Archangel_ because those big wigs have given up on her!"

"So they left us here to die, is that what you're saying?" Arnold demanded.

"But only after a desperate battle so the enemy doesn't know it's abandoned." Mu confirmed.

The crew was silent until Miriallia spoke. "What kind of strategy is this? Because this is a war, and we're all supposed to be good soldiers, so if they tell us to we're all just supposed to throw away our lives." Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as Sai looked sympathetically at her.

"If the object of this whole battle was to lure the ZAFT forces closer in, then in my opinion this ship has already accomplished its mission. Note that I: Murrue Ramius, Captain of the _Archangel_, make this decision alone. No other crewmember is to be held responsible for these actions."

"Don't put so much pressure on yourself." Mu said worriedly.

"This ship will now abandon the battle area and begin to make its withdrawal. Signal the other ships, tell them to follow us. To port, we'll break through the left side of the bay." She ordered.

Mu placed his hand on her shoulder for reassurance. "This won't be an easy escape for us, so I'm launching too."

"But Commander …"

"Don't worry about a thing, have you forgotten? I'm the guy who's famous for making the impossible possible." He left for the hangar.

Rau landed on the submarine and locked his DINN in place. Yzak caught his attention.

"Resupplying Yzak?" he asked.

"I've gotten past two gates, and next time I'll rip the interior apart!" Yzak bragged.

Rau pretended to think for a moment. "Because the legged ship is positioned there, we still haven't been able to breach the main gate. I believe I'd rather have you help out there."

"Thank you very much sir!" Finally, he was getting a chance to prove his worth by destroying the legged ship and breaching the main gate.

The assault continued, and while Mu fought the DINNs and any other suit above the water, any sea-faring suit moved ahead uninhibited. A ZnO fired all of its missiles, the barrage finally destroying the main gate to the JOSH-A base. DINNs, Guul-mounted GINNs and CGUEs took advantage of the opening and broke off their attacks, heading for their primary target.

"Okay, we've given you the main gate, so why not let us leave now?" Mu asked sarcastically.

He opened fire with his machine cannons on a DINN, CGUE and two GINNs destroying them all as the _Archangel_ and any ships able to disengage approached three Vosgulov-class ZAFT subs. They fired their missiles and the _Archangel_ slid out of the way, leaving the hapless vessel behind them to take the brunt of the missiles.

"The Duel is behind us!"

"Legged ship, today's your final day!" Yzak proclaimed.

"Damn, why _now_ of all times!" Mu muttered, firing his Agni cannon at Yzak.

"Don't take me lightly; you're not dealing with the Buster here!" Yzak yelled, avoiding the shots and firing back, destroying the cannon.

Mu ejected the Striker pack before it damaged him as the _Archangel_ moved to port to get past the blockade. More suits were incoming from 10'oclock as Kira started his descent into Earth's atmosphere. This time he was ready for it, not like the time he tried with Strike.

More reports of ships dying came in as Sai reported the extensive damage. Another squad of GINNs started their attack run on the legged ship, firing everything they had.

"We're finished!" Kuzzey moaned in defeat, covering his head with his arms.

"Calm down crybaby." Romero Pal reprimanded.

"Wombats fire! Engines to maximum, we've got to break through!" four more missiles launched just before the launchers were destroyed.

"The _Archangel_!" Mu said, flying around to face Duel again.

"Our thrust is decreasing; I'm losing ship's stability." Arnold reported.

A GINN buzzed the bridge and was followed by a second that came to a dead hover mere meters from the viewports. The pilot raised the heavy assault rifle and time seemed to slow. Even the GINN's outdated rifle could destroy the bridge in a few shots, thus rendering the rest of the _Archangel_ useless.

Murrue swore she saw the gunpowder ignite and closed her eyes as an explosion lit up the immediate area. Freedom's beam rifle destroyed the rifle and Kira drew a saber quickly slicing the head of the GINN off. The bridge looked up and opened their eyes to see the backside of a new mobile suit, thrusters glowing as it hovered in front of the bridge.

Vents on the front of the suit released excess heat gained from the re-entry and the eye cameras flashed yellow. Mu and Yzak took notice, questioning where it came from. In a dramatic display, Kira spread the wings, a bluer glow coming from them as he opened a com line to the _Archangel_.

"This is Kira Yamato. _Archangel_, I'll cover you, please withdraw to safety."

That announcement had the same effect on all the crew, and they sat virtually motionlessly as Kira entered SEED mode to deal with the numerous suits flying around. His targeting computer popped up and he gained a lock on several suits and opened fire with his HiMAT attack, destroying their armaments, mono-eyed heads and arms.

"What the hell was that!" Yzak demanded.

"Please, stop wasting time and withdraw!" Kira ordered, coming onscreen on the bridge.

Murrue stuttered through several words as she tried to explain the situation. "Yes, but … well, there's a … Cyclops, beneath Headquarters … we're all just bait! They planned this, we had no idea! That's why we can't withdraw. We have to get further away from the base!"

"I understand." He said quietly.

His proximity alarm went off and he opened a general channel, flying forwards to once again use his HiMAT attack.

"Attention all ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces: any moment now the Cyclops system will activate and the Alaska base will self-destruct. Both sides cease fighting and withdraw from this area immediately. I repeat, the Cyclops system will activate and the Alaska base will self-destruct. Both sides please cease fighting and withdraw from this area immediately!"

"I'm not falling for that!" Yzak said, firing at Freedom.

Kira blocked the beams with his shield and noticed Duel. Memories of Elle and the shuttle flashed through his mind, his eyes narrowed. Yzak charged and Kira blocked the beam saber with his shield. Duel threw a punch but Freedom quickly countered. In frustration, Yzak fired his railgun but Kira cocked Freedom's head, letting the round slip past. Yzak headbutted Kira and slashed down with his saber, but Kira added more thrust, letting himself fly backwards as he flipped over, drew a saber, and charged Yzak, aiming for the cockpit.

Yzak screamed in terror and right before he was about to die, Kira reluctantly lowered the strike to slice off Duel's legs above the knees.

"Forget about fighting and get the hell out of here!" Kira said, delivering a powerful side-kick to Duel's back, sending the damaged suit plummeting to the ocean, only to be caught by a DINN.

"He didn't? But why?" Yzak questioned.

Beneath the ocean and more than 10 kilometers away, four Earth Alliance submarines continued their escape. The captain of one ship entered the board room and sat down in a chair next to Captain Sutherland. They removed their keys from their necks and placed it in the two devices before them.

"It is my sincerest wish that this terrible sacrifice will bring the war to a swift end." The captain prayed.

"For the preservation of our pure and blue world. Three, two, one." Sutherland added, counting down.

At one, both men turned their keys together, activating the Cyclops system. Mobile suits, vehicles and people exploded as the powerful and confined microwave radiation heated up any source of water, propellant and ammunition.

Alarms went off in any surviving ship as both sides noticed the exponential increase in energy coming from the base. Murrue ordered a swift departure, and for a minute, it seemed as if they wouldn't make it in time. Kira caught hold of a GINN that hadn't been quite fast enough and flew to safety as the Cyclops finally ended up destroying itself in a titanic explosion, wiping out all remains of the base.

"It seems we fell right into the trap the Naturals set for us." Rau remarked.

Kira set the GINN down and then exited his own cockpit as the crew of the _Archangel_ came out to see if it really was Kira.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the chapter length, but it's basically Phase 34 and Phase 35 rolled into one with a few minor revisions. The next chapter will feature more prominent changes.

Thanks to my beta readers and the suggestions provided:  
Ramza Lionheart  
AmuroNT1  
Angel of Dreams  
and the rest of you!


	2. In the Name of Justice, the Divine Thund...

Chapter 2: In the Name of Justice, the Divine Thunder

Some of the crew assembled outside the _Archangel_, waiting to see if it really was Kira who had saved them. The boy walked down the hill to the assembled group and stopped a few feet away from Murrue and Mu, both of whom were standing in front.

He was wearing a ZAFT flight suit, a red one that would have signified that he was an elite pilot assuming he was part of ZAFT.

"I'm glad I was able to make it in time." Kira said.

"You're really … Kira?" Murrue asked.

Kira smiled at the question; doubtless, the crew was wondering just how he survived the final battle against Aegis. "Yes." He replied.

"Kira!" Miriallia cried out, rushing forward towards her friend. The rest of the crew followed suit except for Sai and Kuzzey, who took their time in walking.

He was assaulted with question after question but didn't answer. Instead, he stepped out of the group around him to meet his two friends.

"It's good that you're alive." Sai said, holding back the emotions.

"Yes, I'm sorry, but thanks." He turned around to face the crew again.

"It looks like we have a lot to talk about." Murrue said.

"We should get the Skygrasper and your suit recharged incase there's any stragglers." Kojiro suggested.

"Freedom doesn't need any energy." Kira said, eliciting stares from the crew. "It has an N-Jammer Canceller."

"So that means … it runs on a nuclear reactor?" Arnold questioned.

"Yes, and if you demand the data I'll leave right now. Freedom was entrusted to me to end the war and I will not betray that." Kira said almost menacingly.

Murrue nodded. "No one is to approach Freedom at any time unless given permission by Kira and Kira alone."

Kira nodded in thanks. Someone understood at least. They loaded the Skygrasper and Freedom aboard the _Archangel_ and reconvened in the bridge after Kira had changed into his old uniform. Kira stood in front of the center window, looking down on the captain's chair. In attendance were Sai, Kuzzey, Miriallia, Murrue, Mu, Arnold, Romero and Chandra.

"Obviously the Alliance knew about ZAFT's operation for some time, the Cyclops system isn't the easiest thing to move around unnoticed. An operation like this would have required someone on the inside." Mu stated.

"It was the same up in the PLANTs. Everyone assumed the target was Panama." Kira replied.

"The next question we face is where we should go from here. Obviously, we can't return to the Alliance, we're guilty of going AWOL in the middle of a battle." Murrue proposed.

"Plus we knew about the operation, something like that wouldn't help us at all."

Mu added.

"Well for now we have to repair the ship. Crew dismissed." Murrue dismissed them. She and Mu went back to her cabin where Murrue sat in her chair heavily and sighed. Mu got two cups of coffee and set one in front of her.

"What about Orb?" Mu suggested.

"Orb?" Murrue repeated.

"Why not? They're a neutral nation and they know us, or at least the right people know us. At the very least we can take on supplies and give the crew a choice about their future." He reasoned.

Kira made his way back to his room and saw his stuff had been boxed up. A small metal cylinder on the floor caught his attention. He knelt down and picked it up; it was a tube of lipstick. Flay's lipstick. Memories of their last conversation replayed themselves.

_"Kira … Kira, I"_

_"Sorry, we'll talk later, when I return."_

The door opened and Torii perched itself on his shoulder. Kira turned and stood to see Sai in the doorway. "It was with me for some reason, and I didn't want to turn it off." He explained.

"Thanks."

"Well then …" Sai turned to leave.

"Sai." Kira said, and Sai turned to face Kira again. "Where's Flay?"

Sai didn't have the heart to tell Kira what she had said after the _Archangel_ had reached Alaska.

_"You knew it all along! All this time, I didn't have any real feelings for Kira!"_

_"Flay!"_

"She was transferred when we were in Alaska, along with Second Lieutenant Badgiruel and Commander La Flaga. The Commander returned, but Flay and Lieutenant Badgiruel had already left."

"I see …" Kira dipped his head a little.

"I …!" Anger and sadness began to creep into Sai's speech. "I was saddened to hear that you might be dead! And now … well you're alive, and you've come back! I'm happy! But … why are you like that? We're different, but why am I different from you? Always … I can't stand being miserable when I look at you!"

"But, you're different from me as well Sai. What you can't do, I can, but what I can't do, you can." He explained.

Sai nodded in understanding and left Kira in peace. Not two minutes after Sai left Kira turned off the lights and flopped down on his bed, closing his eyes and sighing. The door hissed open again, letting the bright light from the corridor flood in.

"I guess they keep the lights off to conserve power." A female voice muttered.

Kira sat up at the sound of her voice. He knew that voice … but why was she here? "Flay?" he breathed quietly.

The lights came on with the press of a button, showing two startled people in the room. "Kira?"

"What are you doing here?" they both asked simultaneously.

Kira gestured for Flay to continue. "I thought you were dead." She stated.

"And I was told you'd been transferred at Alaska." He replied.

The two of them stared in silence for a minute before Flay spoke up. "I was going to go the mess hall for a drink, care to join me?"

"Sure."

"Archangel_ on final approach, speed 10, light is green. Call the ball._" The Orb operator announced.

"_Archangel_, _Archangel_-class, formerly Earth Alliance." Arnold replied, slowing the ship to a stop and gently landing it while announcing the ship's name, class and place of origin.

Seven days after the disastrous events at JOSH-A, the _Archangel_ was finally safely berthed inside the Morgenroete facility, with repair crews swarming out to begin fixing the ship.

Cagalli stood in front of the elevator, hopping from one foot to the other impatiently waiting for it to open. It finally did and she quickly moved to one side to allow medics and injured men off the lift first before ducking inside and closing the door. When it opened, she raced through the ship looking for Kira. She caught a glimpse of his head heading down a hallway and she called out his name and altered her course to get to him.

Kira turned in time to see Cagalli lunge at him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug that ended up knocking him to the floor. "You're such an idiot!" she cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Sorry Cagalli. I am alive." He simply said.

She got off of him and they stared to walk through the ship. "Athrun actually cried when he though he killed you. I wanted to know how he could even think about killing his best friend."

"War makes people do stupid things. He was almost justified in trying to kill me though. He never stopped trying to get me to join him, but then I killed his friend and comrade. In revenge, he killed Tolle. From there we tried to kill each other. And he nearly succeeded."

They stopped in front of Freedom. Cagalli stared at it. Even powered down it looked menacing and imposing. "What is that?"

"My means of ending the war. Lacus entrusted me with Freedom."

And ten days later, the repairs to the ship were complete, and the senior staff was asked to meet in the Morgenroete repair facility by Erica Simmons. Kira noted something in the dark against the wall but kept his mouth shut as he looked around the large bay. Mu, Murrue and Cagalli were all behind him, waiting for Erica to arrive, and oddly enough, Flay was beside him. Despite her former status as a noncom soldier, she'd been allowed to accompany them.

"Well, it's good that you're all here, I have a surprise." Erica said.

Powerful flood-lights activated, illuminating the back wall, revealing a fully repaired Strike Gundam standing tall and proud.

"Strike!" Kira exclaimed as memories of his last battle with Athrun ran through his head.

_"ATHRUN!"_

_"KIRA!"_

"We've finished the repairs and added an OS suitable for a Natural pilot, the same OS that you helped to create for our M1 Astray." Erica told them.

"So you're saying that anyone can pilot it." Mu said.

"Yes." Erica said happily.

"I'm going to pilot it." Cagalli announced, remembering one of her conversations with Kira over the Indian Ocean.

_"All of this time you've fought alone on the battlefield, well no more Kira. I'm going to fight alongside you."_

_"Thanks Cagalli."_

They all turned to stare at her with disbelief. "Err, with your permission of course, Captain Ramius." She added hastily.

"Sorry, you can't be the pilot." Mu said.

"Why not?" Cagalli demanded.

"Because, I'M going to pilot it." Flay cut in.

_"Kira, I've spent my entire life having other people do things for me. Now it's time for me to step up. I'm joining the fight."_

_"Flay …"_

Kira faced her. "No Flay, you're NOT going to pilot Strike." He growled out.

"And why not?"

"I don't want you getting hurt." Kira remembered Tolle had tried to defend the ship and his friends as well.

_"TOLLE! NOOOOO!"_

"So you DO care!" Flay jabbed her index finger hard into his chest.

_"Look Flay … I don't think things can just go back to normal … everything has changed."_

_"Kira … what are you trying to say?"_

"Now is not the time for this." He warned.

"Why not?"

"We'll discuss this later, but right now Mu is going to pilot Strike!"

The rest of them were surprised at the power behind Kira's voice. Who knew he could sound so commanding?

"Well until you decide, Strike will be here, waiting." Erica said and left the hangar. Cagalli ran after her, probably to talk about Strike.

Mu and Murrue left together, wordlessly, leaving Kira and Flay in the center of the hangar. The two teenagers stared at each other for a minute before Flay continued their conversation, or rather, their argument.

"Now why won't you let me pilot Strike?"

"Because … because you don't have any training, because you're only 15 years old, because Mu is more qualified, because it's up to Murrue, because …" he didn't add the last reason, knowing it would probably send the girl into shock if he did.

"Well, if I remember correctly, you're only sixteen years old Kira Yamato, and you piloted Strike without any prior training of any kind with mobile suits, and we're not part of the Earth Alliance military anymore." One by one, Flay shot down his seemingly flimsy excuses.

"I'm a Coordinator, you're not. I reprogrammed the first OS, you didn't. I made the second OS, you didn't." he desperately tried to think of more reasons to stop her, but none came to mind.

"So what, you're better than me? I thought you were different Kira, but it turns out you're just the same as every male alive." She turned on her heel sharply and walked out, leaving Kira to run his hand through his hair in regret.

The doors opened to allow Flay an exit and quickly closed after she left. He stared at where she had been standing. "Because I love you." He finally whispered.

Night had fallen before Kira returned to his bunk on the _Archangel_, he had spent most of the time either tinkering with Freedom or finishing a few things on Strike's OS. Erica had granted him and Mu clearance to Strike, and handed a pass to Kira to give to Flay.

_"Just in case." Erica said, winking at him. Kira reluctantly took the pass and promised to make sure that Flay received it._

He was about to open the door to his quarters when he belatedly realized that Flay had moved into a different room after their chat in the mess hall over two weeks ago. His finger hovered in front of the button for a minute before he turned to find her new quarters.

Though it was late at night, Flay was just ready to turn in. The light was off, she had her shoes and stockings off, and her jacket was unzipped, showing the pink shirt beneath it. Her hand released her pony-tail and she shook her head to free the hair, running her hands through it as well.

There wasn't a chime as the door slid open, the hydraulics barely making noise. An outline of a figure was leaning against the doorjamb, his arms crossed. She didn't quite recognize who it was, but there were only two people she knew of that would barge into her room, and she was willing to bet hard cash that it wasn't Sai.

"You know," he spoke, confirming that it was Kira, "things fall apart, and they fall apart so quickly. You can't ever put them back the way they were."

"What do you want Kira?" she asked tiredly.

"It … it's just … you know, it takes time. You can't just have coffee and expect …"

"I know." Flay said, tears starting to well up as she thought about where Kira was going with this.

"There's just so much to work through. Trust has to be built again on both sides. You have to learn if we are even the same people we were. You have to learn if we can even fit into each other's lives, and it's a long and important process."

He walked forward, letting the door slid shut behind him. There was a soft glow from the vidscreen beside her bed. A single tear fell as he sat down on the bed beside her. "But what do they know?" he whispered in her ear.

Flay looked at him, not trusting her own ears. Kira smiled faintly. "You don't know how much I've missed you Flay."

"Kira!" Flay burst into tears, wrapping her arms around his chest, not wanting to let go.

"I'm here Flay, here for you." He told her, pulling her in close, stroking her hair gently.

She cried herself to sleep in Kira's arms, happy that he had come back. Kira could finally start to repay her for everything she had done for him. Morning arrived far too soon for Flay's tastes, but waking up with her arms around Kira and his arms around her was certainly a better way to wake up than most people would think of.

"Good morning sleepy-head." Kira teased, stroking her hair again.

Flay nuzzled into Kira's chest, not wanting to leave him again. He lifted her up to his height, their faces inches apart. "Did I tell you how much I've missed you?" he asked.

"Yes, but remind me." Kira gladly did so, their lips meeting in a soft kiss, the first they shared since their last visit to the Orb Union.

She finished their kiss, staring down into his violet eyes, reveling in the happiness they contained. It was the happiness that she caused him, the happiness that she was responsible for. In this moment, his happiness was all that mattered to her.

Flay leaned in close. "So does this mean you'll let me pilot Strike now?"

"No." she looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"And why not?"

"Flay, look at this from a logical standpoint: Mu is a veteran ace who has fought alongside me since Heliopolis. Now I have Freedom and Strike has an OS that can be used by Naturals. Strike may have the armor to protect you but you won't be able to bring out its full potential." He started to explain.

"Mu doesn't know how to use a mobile suit either." She pouted.

"That may be true but I repeat: Mu is a veteran. He knows what it's like to be out there fighting, especially against other mobile suits."

"What if we ask Manager Simmons if I could use an Astray?" Flay asked as the idea popped into her head.

"No."

Flay glared at him. This was starting to get really annoying. "Why not? Look, everyone starts out at the bottom at one point, and at least here I've got you, Mu and the rest of Orb to help me if I need it."

"Flay, I don't want you out there putting your life in danger." His voice lowered to just above a whisper. "I don't want to lose you, not again. We nearly lost each other but Fate was kind to both of us, and I would really rather not try it again. You mean too much to me."

Seeing just how much Kira cared about her was too much for Flay, as memories of how this all started came back to her. She had planned to use him for revenge, to turn him into a relentless killing machine, only for time to work against her. Now she felt the shame and guilt of her actions and what fueled them.

"Kira, there's something you should know."

"Flay …"

"No, I need to tell you. Why I did all those things, everything that has happened … it was all for …" she couldn't go on.

"All for revenge." Kira finished for her. She looked at him in surprise. "I know Flay, and I knew back then. Maybe I didn't realize it fully, or maybe I just didn't care because I was lonely, but I knew. And I forgive you, because you've changed, you've seen the errors of your ways, the evils that war brings about."

She burst into tears again because of Kira and his compassion, his understanding. He pulled her in close again and held her as she cried. Flay managed to bring her emotions under control just as a page came over the intercom system.

"_Kira Yamato to the Morgenroete testing facility, repeat Kira Yamato to the Morgenroete testing facility._"

"I guess that means Mu is ready to test the Strike. Are you going to come with me?"

Flay shook her head. "Sorry, but I've got a few things to do with Miriallia first." She dried her eyes and smile at Kira. "Thank you, for everything." She told him sincerely.

He drew her in close. "Anything for you." And he kissed her gently on the forehead before letting her go. "I'll be back."

"Kira wait!" she called out, grabbing his hand and pulling him into one last parting kiss on the lips, this one more heated than their first.

"Phase Shift active, all systems green, reactor running at 100 efficiency. I'm ready to rock and roll!" Mu confirmed.

"_Roger that Strike, you are free to engage at will._" Erica told him, as she and several others watched from the control room.

"_I'm ready when you are Mu._" Kira told him over a private channel.

"Good to know Kid." He looked closely at Kira's face on the screen. "Is that … lipstick?"

Kira immediately blushed and replied. "_No … why would you think that?_"

"Well I did rescue Flay back at Alaska so I simply assumed that you two managed to patch things up again." Mu said with a little glint in his eyes.

Kira was speechless. "_Thank you Mu, I don't know what would happened if you hadn't done that._"

"You owe me one. Fight hard Yamato because I'm going all out!" and he charged.

In response to the Alaskan Ambush, ZAFT attacked the Panama spaceport and mass driver. In an unforeseen occurrence, the Earth Alliance unleashed their newly created GAT-01 Mobile Suits, known as the Strike Daggers. Despite their efforts, ZAFT managed to drop a Gungir system down and set if off, letting the massive EMP wave destroy the mass driver and disable the Daggers.

In an instant the Earth Alliance had no way to escape into space …

* * *

A/N: There we go, changes! It will still follow the basic SEED storyline, but don't expect any copy and paste episodes anymore.  
-Prayer


	3. Athrun and the Decisive Fire

Chapter 3: Athrun and the Decisive Fire

"_… and we ask that any sovereign nations join the Earth Alliance as soon as they can so that we, the Naturals of Earth, may present a united front to the Coordinators and end the war as quickly as possible. The Orb Union, the Kingdom of Scandinavia and the Equatorial Union, we urge you all to consider._"

"That message began broadcasting an hour ago." It was the first of June, Cosmic Era 71. Uzumi Nala Athha, Murrue Ramius and Mu La Flaga had just finished watching what one could consider an ultimatum directed at any neutral nation, such as Orb.

"The Earth Alliance knows Orb will never join, but a stunt like this will make us look like we support ZAFT by not joining. I have my suspicions that the Blue Cosmos, led by Murata Azrael, is behind this push." Uzumi continued.

"I think this is a three-fold attack. Their first objective is to train their troops in mobile suit combat, which Orb will provide plenty of practice for." Mu started.

"Well, the second is obviously to go at ZAFT with all of Earth behind them. Once Orb has fallen, Scandinavia and the Equatorial Union won't last much longer. But what's the third?" Murrue put in.

"Their third objective is to obtain a mass driver. The Kaguya mass driver would be perfect for the Earth Alliance to launch ships with." Uzumi told them.

"Which means we have to protect Onogoro Island long enough to launch into space and evacuate Orb safely." Mu said.

"But that's impossible! Orb doesn't have the resources or people to fend off the ground forces of the Alliance." Murrue burst out.

"Maybe not for a toe-to-toe fight, but accompanying our M1 Corps, we have numerous hard points already installed. If we start the evacuation now then I believe that we can get everyone to safety before a fleet comes knocking on our door." Uzumi corrected.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must prepare a rejection suitable for the Alliance." Uzumi nodded at the two of them and left the room.

Mu stretched and stood. "I'm going to go find Kira, there's something he needs to know. You look tired Murrue, you should get some rest."

Murrue would have heeded Mu's words of wisdom but she had too much to do on the bridge of the _Archangel_. Flay was disappointed that she couldn't pilot a mobile suit so she volunteered for the bridge. Murrue considered moving Sai to the secondary helmsman and putting Flay in his old place but she wasn't sure. A good solution would present itself; all she needed was a little time to think about it.

"Kira! Get your butt out of there, you and I need to talk." Mu snapped, standing over Freedom's cockpit.

The advanced mobile suit was flat on its back, lying next to Strike and several M1 Astrays. Kira grumbled something incoherently and put his keyboard back and climbed out.

"What?" he asked irritably. How was he supposed to finish modifying Freedom if everyone from Mu to Erica to the three test pilots kept bothering him?

"Don't take that tone with me." Mu scolded. He motioned for Kira to follow him.

Now Kira was completely puzzled at Mu's behavior. He figured it was from whatever they discussed at their meeting but he couldn't help but feel that he was responsible for this.

"Flay came to me yesterday morning." Mu said suddenly after they had been walking for several minutes in silence.

Kira gulped. He knew what she talked to Mu about. "She wanted me to override you on your decision since apparently I've been made the flight commander of Orb." Mu continued.

"I turned her request down and told her that you still have precedence over me in some matters." Kira was shocked to hear that.

"But there's something I want you to know." Kira leaned in close to listen.

"Her father was a pilot once." Mu held a hand up to forestall Kira's remarks. "Just listen Kid. The last battle he fought in a mobile armor was at Yggdrasil, a fourth generation space station. He was shot out of two Moebius' and managed to land a third damaged one. The man was a brilliant pilot and he should have continued to fly with us but when he landed the third armor something blew and a piece of shrapnel came close to completely severing his spinal cord."

"After rehab he took the place of an Atlantic Federation minister who had retired. Piloting and politics, both were his strong suits. Give her a chance Kid; she may take after her father more than we know."

Kira stared at the floor for a minute and then looked Mu in the eyes. "I've made my decision."

"I see." Mu said noncommittally.

It was an odd time of the day. Most of the bridge crew had finished their shifts and gone to find something to eat and perhaps rest a while. Due to the lack of manpower, most of the senior crew was doubling their shifts so that everything would be completed. Orb couldn't help out too much; most of their able-bodied people were being trained as pilots.

At this point in time, the only people on the bridge were Arnold, pulling his third straight shift without a break, Flay and Miriallia. Both girls were in the CIC center, going over the repairs. They were of course chatting about – in Arnold's opinion – nonsensical things, as most girls do.

"So what do you think the captain will do with the Buster pilot that surrendered?" Mir asked.

Flay eyed the girl uncertainly. The tan Coordinator was a bit of a bad subject for the two of them, both of them tried to kill him in rage, and Flay could swear he had a crush on Mir.

"I don't think we're allowed to hold him in a neutral country as a renegade ship. Captain Ramius will probably release him before we leave and let Orb deal with it." Flay replied after thinking for a few seconds.

"I suppose that's the only choice we have." Mir said a hint of sadness evident.

Flay was never one to pass up an opportunity such as this. "Aww … isn't that cute, Mir likes the enemy pilot." She teased.

"I do not!" she replied indignantly, "I tried to kill him once, I'm pretty sure that's the furthest you can get from liking someone."

"Come on Mir, it's not so bad liking someone who tried to kill us all once. Besides, if he's all tied up then he can't run off and die, right?"

"Is that what you wanted to do with Kira?" Mir turned the tables on Flay.

The red-haired girl paused for a second before replying. "We've all changed, and I think for the better. Kira … he forgave me for what I tried to do."

"He is a sweet guy, but when something gets him going, there's not a lot that can stop him." Mir giggled.

_More than you know Miriallia._ "That's not always the best thing either, he won't let me fight with him, and Mu won't let me pilot either. I'm starting to feel like a little child here."

"That just shows how much he cares about you, he doesn't want you hurt."

"I suppose, but I feel the need to protect him now, to start repaying the debt of saving us all of the time."

"Oi! Quit chatting and get back to work down there!" Arnold yelled having finally grown tired of three hours of chit-chat between the two of them.

Both girls jumped at his anger and got back to work as Murrue entered the bridge. "Status?" she asked.

"Repairs are ahead of schedule Ma'am. The _Archangel_ will be fully operational in three hours." Arnold reported, not looking up from his station.

"Good. Get some rest Neuman, you need it." Murrue replied.

"But …" he turned to face her.

"No buts, don't make me make it an order."

"Aye aye Captain."

As Arnold entered the lift, Murrue turned towards the CIC. "You girls are also dismissed."

Two "Yes Ma'am" came out from the center and then Murrue was left in silence. She stood near one of the windows and stared out as the sun was slowly setting for the day. For nearly twenty minutes, she stood alone, and she didn't bother to turn to see who had exited the lift onto the bridge.

"Feeling lonely?" Mu asked.

"Commander? What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"Just checking up on you Captain; and I'm not a commander anymore." Mu replied moving beside her.

"And I'm not a captain. Why did you return to us at JOSH-A?"

"I hate leaving unfinished business." Mu explained, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in close.

"Unfinished busi-" she was cut off when her lips met Mu's.

Their first kiss lasted only a few seconds and Murrue broke it, her cheeks flushed.

"I don't date Mobile Armor pilots." She told him.

"That's fine; I'm a Mobile Suit pilot now." He put the emphasis on suit.

They came together in another kiss, consensual by the both of them.

Flay and Miriallia walked through the corridors to get the mess hall. They were chatting about something interesting when Kira found them. "Flay! Mir!"

"Hi Kira." Mir greeted, giving him a wave.

Flay got a quick peck on the cheek and a hug as Murrue's voice came over the intercom system.

"_Attention please! This is a message from _Archangel_ captain Murrue Ramius. To all crewmembers; at this very moment an Earth Alliance naval fleet is on its way to Orb. The Earth Alliance has demanded that the Orb government dissolve itself within 48 hours of their arrival. If those demands are not met, they are prepared to launch a full-scale attack. The Orb government it attempting negotiations, but it seems very likely that an attack is unavoidable. In the event that the negotiations fail, the _Archangel_ will join the Orb government in fighting against the Earth Alliance. However, this is my personal decision and you are under no obligation to follow my orders. Those of you who wish to leave, please follow Orb's instructions and seek shelter._"

"So it is true." Kira muttered.

Flay paid no heed to Kira's odd words. "Kira, Mir and I were about to head to the mess hall for a bite to eat, would you care to join us?"

"I'd love to, but I've got to find Mu … and Manager Simmons. I'll find you later, okay?" without waiting for a response, Kira tore off, racing through the corridors.

"What was that all about?" Mir wondered.

Flay couldn't answer her.

It was late in the night by the time Kira got back to the quarters he once again shared with Flay. She was still up, working on something at the computer terminal located near the door. "You're late." Was the greeting he got.

"Sorry." He apologized, moving to let the door close behind him.

"So what have you been doing these past several hours?"

"Arranging and fixing a few things, nothing major really."

Flay turned in her chair to face her boyfriend. "Do I really want to know?"

"Well, this time, yes." She stared at him with an almost bored look on her face, waiting for him to go on.

"I've decided to let you pilot."

Kira let the information sink in for a second but before he could continue again, Flay leapt from her chair and enfolded Kira in a hug which knocked the two of them to the floor. He laid there on the floor, his hands around her back, while she whispered thank you over and over, her arms around his neck.

Finally she looked at him again. "So what made you change your mind?" she asked innocently.

_Well between you pouting all day long, Mu pestering me nonstop and the fact that we need all the help we can get …_Kira said none of what he thought. Instead, he winked at her. "It's my secret."

"Now you'd better get some sleep, you've got a big day ahead of you, learning how to pilot and all." Kira said in a fatherly tone.

Flay stood up and brushed herself off. "Like I'm going to be able to sleep now knowing I get to pilot." She crossed her arms. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Kira leapt up to his feet and swept Flay off of hers. She giggled as he twirled her around in a bridal fashion. He gently put her on the bed. "I've got a few more things to finish, so I'll be back in a few hours, and when I get back you'd better be asleep." He warned teasingly.

He stood once more and opened the door. "Kira?" Flay's voice stopped him, so he turned his head to look at her. "Thank you."

He nodded and left once again.

Inside the hangar of the _Archangel_, Kira, Mu and Kojiro were discussing a few things to optimize the overall performance of the suits. Kira obviously had the most to say on the matter, with Mu and Kojiro lending a Natural's perspective of things to help out. The lower hangar doors hissed open, allowing Miriallia to lead a blindfolded Flay out onto the deck. Kira took notice and quickly made his way down to the girls.

"Why am I blindfolded?" Flay asked for the tenth time.

"Because Kira wants this to be a surprise for you." Mir replied for the tenth time.

"Where are we?" she asked as Mir's hands left her shoulders.

It wasn't Mir who answered, but rather Kira. "The hangar bay." He said nonchalantly as he removed the blindfold.

Flay gasped as her vision returned. Behind Kira was decidedly an M1 Astray, but in decidedly non-standard colors. The head was pink in color, with the V-Fin and chin a deep red. The arms and outside of the legs were purple, with the outside of the torso and the rest of the legs black, and finally a stripe of white to cover the rest of the torso.

From behind Kira came Mu with a flight suit draped over his left arm and a helmet held in his right. It had the same color scheme as her mobile suit, with the words "Flay" on the left side of the helmet and "Red Dragon" on the right. An emblem of a red dragon breathing fire was on each shoulder of her flight suit.

"Congratulations Ensign Alster on graduating." Mu said formally, handing her flight suit and helmet over.

Flay was speechless. She took her flight suit and stared at her customized M1. "Alright, play time is over! Back to work!" Murdock called out, getting his crew back to their duties.

Kira took Flay's hand and led the stunned girl towards the zip line. She had seen Kira descend often enough that she could do that part no problem. Flay held Kira tightly, not because she was afraid to fall, but rather because she couldn't believe this was real and not a dream.

"So show me how to work this." Flay said, finally snapping out of it.

"Sure thing … Ensign."

On June 13th, Cosmic Era 71, the Earth Alliance's 4th Naval Fleet parked off the coast of Onogoro Island and reiterated their demands: the current government to be dissolved, the mass driver to be handed over and the armed forces to disarm themselves. The 48 hour deadline had begun.

"Well Kuzzey, I guess this is it."

"Wait Sai, maybe I –"

"Stop. You've already decided to leave the ship right? I think you're making the right choice."

Kuzzey stared at Sai in disbelief.

"Violence is not the only way to win a fight. Still I –"

"Sai … thanks."

Sai and Kuzzey shook hands.

"Let's meet again, when the war is over." Sai said.

"Yeah, when there's peace."

With 24 hours to go before the deadline expired, Kuzzey Buskirk and 10 other members of the _Archangel_ left, seeking shelter for the coming storm.

"Director Azrael, it's time." The captain announced.

"Launch missiles and suits. The 'Lion of Orb' will regret this day." Murata Azrael ordered.

Dozens of missiles were launched from the fleet, all aiming for the coastal defenses of Onogoro Island. As soon as their time ran out, the _Archangel_ launched.

"Kira Yamato, Freedom, launching!"

"Mu La Flaga, Strike, moving out!"

"Flay Alster, M1 Astray, launching!"

The rest of Orb's M1 Astray Corp launched, led by their three test pilots, Julie Nien, Asagi Kodoueru and Mayura Lapats. "Get the M1's to form defensive lines no more than 50 meters apart. Flay, back them up; I'll go with these three. Kira's got everything else." Mu ordered.

"_Incoming missiles!_" Miriallia warned.

"Got 'em!" Kira said, boosting upwards and firing with his HiMAT attack.

"_More incoming!_"

"More missiles?" Kira wondered.

"Mobile suits!" Mu shouted out.

Earth Alliance transport planes flew overhead and dropped more suits directly on the island while the main group attacked from the sea. The Strike Daggers attacked relentlessly, destroying anything that looked vaguely militaristic. A large group began to move inwards towards several buildings, and there was little the three test pilots could do to stop them.

Kira banked sharply, having dealt with the missile barrage. His targeting computer locked onto several Daggers and he once again opened fire with his HiMAT attack. As soon as the beams struck the enemy suits, Kira dropped his shield, cut his thrusters and grabbed both beam sabers.

In a flash of light, he had disabled a handful more Daggers before reclaiming his shield and boosting out of there, leaving Strike and the M1s to deal with the survivors. Another warning came from the _Archangel_. "_More heat sources detected, it's a mobile suit … no … mobile armor … wait!_"

Whatever it was, it opened fire, narrowly missing the legged ship, and then it swooped away. As soon as it flew over solid ground, everything became clear. It was two mobile suits, one riding on top of another transformable one. A third suit destroyed several Orb naval ships with quick attacks.

The Calamity, Raider and Forbidden had arrived. It was at this point that Dearka, now released and dressed in civilian clothing, decided he had had enough of the slaughter that was going on around him. His mind flashed back to the last conversation he had with Miriallia.

_"Wait, where's the Buster?"_

_"It was ours to begin with, so Morgenroete has it." She replied._

_"Damn." A thought struck him. "You're not fighting are you?" he grabbed her upper arm to stop her progress._

_"I'm in the _Archangel's _CIC. And … Orb is my homeland."_

"Goddamnit!" he yelled before running off.

The Earth Alliance's trio of new Gundams continued to wreak havoc on the Orb defenders, with the Forbidden and Raider keeping Kira occupied while the Calamity danced back and forth through many battles.

Enemy fighters closed in on the _Archangel_, readying their missiles. "Multiple contacts above!" Mir warned.

"Evade them!" Murrue ordered.

But before Arnold could even move, two planes closed in only to be destroyed by a single accurate shot.

"What the?"

"Archangel_ what do you think you're doing?_" Dearka demanded.

"Buster …" Sai reported.

_Why him?_ Mir wondered.

Dearka launched his missiles at the group of fighters and shot down the survivors promptly. Mu raced towards the Calamity Gundam, which was firing at anything and everything in front of him. He fired twice at the artillery suit, hoping to get the pilot's attention.

Unfortunately for Mu, he did. Orga opened fire with his chest mounted Scylla cannon, blowing Strike's right arm and beam rifle away.

"Damn!" he cursed, flying backwards to gain some distance.

"_Mu!_" Flay cried out.

"Don't worry about me! Keep your attention on THEM!" he scolded.

Just in time, Flay turned her attention back to the battlefield and blocked a shot from a Dagger. She fired back as Mu retreated to the safety of the _Archangel_. Kira occupied the attention of the sombrero-hat covered Gundam and the hammer-tossing transformable one while the last one, the one with all the guns, kept switching between crushing Astrays and taking potshots at the sky.

Flay wanted to help Kira out very badly, but her Astray wasn't capable of sustained flight like Freedom; it couldn't even match the thruster output that Mu in the Aile Strike had. She'd be a sitting duck and would only distract him if she tried to help him.

The minutes passed as both sides settled into a stalemate. Her sensors picked up the launching of Skygrasper loaded with the Launcher pack. _What the?_ She wondered. The agile fighter picked up speed and set a course straight for the _Powell_-class naval carrier in the center of the fleet.

Zooming in, Flay could see the Agni cannon charge up as the pilot centered in on the bridge. Before the he could fire, Raider's sphere breaker hit the port side of the Skygrasper, tearing off the left engine, wing and the cannon itself. No longer able to keep itself aloft, the fighter nosedived downwards and started a flat spin before crashing onto the main deck of the carrier, intact but on fire.

And Kira, who had one eye on the battle and one eye on the Skygrasper, found himself in a very bad situation. Below him, the Calamity Gundam, above him, the Raider Gundam, and across from him, the Forbidden Gundam. He could dodge two fields of fire, but the third would inevitably get him. All three Earth Alliance mobile suits opened fire. Freedom dodged the shots from Raider and Calamity, and then Kira recoiled in horror as the arcing induction plasma shot from the Forbidden arced around, aimed directly at his cockpit. There was no way he could dodge in time.

Something red intervened, sliding between the beam shot and Kira.

* * *

Notes: Well, I actually wanted to add more, but … well … shit happens. I hope my next update will be sooner rather than later like this one was. I would like thank everyone for reviewing "Things We Do", and I urge you all to review this chapter … please?

Prayer


	4. Into the Dawn Skies, leaving the Trembli...

Chapter 4: Into the Dawn Skies, leaving the Trembling World

* * *

Everything stopped for a moment. The red savior, which was a mobile suit, stole everyone's attention. It looked to be brand new, equipped with new weapons, and the same model of beam rifle that Freedom carried. Finally, its pilot spoke. 

"_This is Athrun Zala of the ZAFT Special Forces. Freedom, I'm talking to Kira Yamato, aren't I?_" he demanded.

"Athrun?"

Wasting no more time, Athrun fired twice at the Raider Gundam, forcing Crot to evade. Following Athrun's lead, Kira drew a beam saber and slashed at the Forbidden Gundam.

As they fought, Kira spoke to Athrun. "What are you doing here? Is ZAFT sticking their nose in Orb's fight with the Earth Alliance now?" he asked angrily.

"_No. I am here on by my own volition. ZAFT has nothing to do with this fight._" Athrun replied.

The Forbidden Gundam charged from high above, but both Kira and Athrun managed to dodge in time. As Shani turned around, Justice's sub-lifter backpack narrowly missed him and before he knew it, Justice was before him and sent him flying with a powerful kick.

As Shani flew backwards, Orga fired once at the energy-deflecting shields that Forbidded was equipped with. The beams curved around and missed Freedom by several meters, but almost hit the Raider.

Crot was outraged. "_ORGA! Watch what you're doing!_"

"_You're pissing me off Crot!_" Orga replied, boosting upwards and firing at the nimble Raider Gundam.

"_Yeah, well you're pissing me off too!_" Crot replied and just as he took aim, it seemed as if his entire body was wracked in pain.

Orga and Shani felt the same way, and they all realized that the powerful Gamma Gleptin had worn off. Their hour was up. Crot transformed and grabbed the Calamity by the shoulders and flew off with Forbidden close behind.

The surviving defenders wondered exactly what had just happened but they weren't about to complain as the Strike Dagger forces retreated as well. The Orb forces pulled back to reestablish their defensive lines.

Athrun and Kira landed their nuclear-powered suits close to each other as Flay and Dearka landed not far off. Many people gathered to see the pilot of the red Justice who had intervened and possibly saved Kira. As Kira and Athrun began to walk towards each other, armed guards raised their weapons.

Kira motioned for them to stand down. "He's not an enemy." He announced.

Athrun was a little shocked and very relieved. Cagalli and Dearka made their way to the front of the crowd and were astonished to see that it was Athrun Zala. Finally, the two reached other and stopped.

"What are you doing here Athrun?"

"My mission is to capture the Freedom and its pilot or destroy it and everyone who came in contact with it."

Kira stayed silent, waiting for Athrun to go on. "I'm choosing not to follow my orders. Like I said before, I'm here on my own will, ZAFT is not interfering."

Hearing these words, Cagalli ran forwards, tears in her eyes and hugged both of them happily. "Cagalli?"

"You're both idiots!" she told them.  
Having diffused the situation, the pilots moved their suits into the Morgenroete hangar bay for repairs and rearming. No one knew when the Earth Alliance forces would be returning and they all had to be prepared.

Seeing Murrue, Kira quickly pulled her aside into an out of the way corner. "Who was in the skygrasper?" he asked.

Murrue hesitated with her reply, knowing the answer would crush him almost as much as it had crushed her. "Mu was."

Kira inhaled sharply and backpedaled as she went on. "He landed the Strike and ordered Murdoch and his crew to prep our last Skygrasper and the Launcher equipment. He told us that he could end the threat if he could take out the mothership. I refused to let him leave, and he threatened to blast the doors open and launch anyways."

"So you cleared him and he failed. Now he's either dead, or worse, in their hands." Kira lowered his head.

"You'd better go; the red pilot is waiting for you."

"I think you'd better listen as well, Athrun could have important information." Murrue nodded and they met up with Flay on the way.

Athrun and Kira were sitting on several crates, and Cagalli had just returned with some water. Miriallia stood behind a support, eyeing Athrun nervously as Dearka appeared behind her.

"I believe that there's no other choice. I believe that what Cagalli's father says is true. If Orb were to side with the Earth forces, the Atlantic Federation would take advantage of its power and use it to attack the PLANTs. And the same thing would happen if Orb were to side with ZAFT. The only difference would be in which country Orb would be designated the enemy." Kira said.

"But either way there'd be no real change for the better. I can't let it go on like that. And that's the reason why. I know I killed a comrade of yours, a personal friend. But I never knew or met the guy, and it's not as if I wanted to kill him." He continued.

"And you … killed Tolle." That got a reaction from Miriallia. "But you never knew him either. You didn't want to kill him right?"

"No. But, I tried my hardest to kill you."

"Same here. Look Athrun, it'd be great if we could live in a world where we never had to fight, and if we could live in that world forever." As he spoke, memories of Tolle and Mu came to Kira's mind. "But this war keeps escalating."

'_If we want to win this war, we will need its power, and we need it now!_' Athrun recalled what his father had said about Justice and the N-Jammer Cancellers.

"If it goes on like this, the PLANTs and the Earth will have no choice but to destroy each other. And that's why I've decided to fight. I just wanted to protect others, but having pulled the trigger, it's too late to pull back. Do we have to fight each other again?" Kira asked earnestly.

As Kira stood up to leave, Athrun stood as well and spoke. "I have one question. The Freedom is equipped with an N-Jammer Canceller. What would happen if that data …"

"If anyone tried to get that data for their own purposes, I'd shoot them." Kira was dead serious.

Mir finally had enough and ran off, brushing past Dearka who called for her to wait. She turned with tear-filled eyes. "What do you want?"

He approached her cautiously, stammering his words. "He's the one who killed that guy … you know … Tolle."

"What's your point? Were you listening to Kira? This is what he meant! Would killing him bring Tolle back to me? Of course it wouldn't, so why don't you just stop talking about it!" she ran off, and Dearka chased after her.

Orb continued in their efforts to prepare and soon enough, the morning light broke through, and with it came reports of Alliance mobile suits headed for Orb again. The battle alert was sounded and the scramble was on to bring forces to bear to withstand the new offensive.

Athrun watched as the Freedom walked out of the Morgenroete hangar. "Tough choice, isn't it?" Dearka asked him.

"Dearka?" Athrun faced his old friend and comrade.

"Your orders are to bring that machine in. We're ZAFT soldiers, and it's not going to go over well if we keep sticking our noses in."

"I don't want any of them to die." Athrun said.

Dearka let out a small laugh. "Amazing, for the first time, we agree on something."

The Alliance landed more and more Strike Daggers on the shores of Onogoro Island, and Kira was too preoccupied dealing with the Forbidden, Calamity and Raider to lend a hand to the straggling defenders.

The three Earth forces Gundams increased their barrage, nearly succeeding in trapping Kira. A beam boomerang came from nowhere, forcing Shani to block as several shots from a beam rifle sent Crot evasive. The sub-lifter backpack from the Justice buzzed by Orga before returning to the main suit.

"Athrun!" Kira called out.

"_Both of us completely understood what you meant about fighting for the right thing. There are some things that I want to protect, so I must fight for them. Let's kick ass!_"

And the fight was joined. The three new Gundams kept up their intense barrage but it had little effect, both Kira and Athrun had been at this game far longer that they'd like to admit. Athrun used his sub-lifter backpack with great success, although it didn't pose a major threat, the pilots couldn't afford to ignore its presence.

Another alarm sounded in Orga's cockpit as the lifter flew by, and the blond pilot realized that he was almost out of energy. "_Stupid mobile suit! You run out of energy now?_"

"_That's because you're firing all over the place you dumbass!_" Crot told him.

Just as the words left the red-head's mouth, Athrun leapt from the water and sliced the Sphere Breaker in two, forcing Crot to transform to make a quick escape.

"_You're the dumbass!_" Orga retorted as he landed his suit heavily onto the Raider.

"_Damn freeloader!_" Crot cursed.

Shani kept fighting, apparently oblivious to his own energy concerns. It wasn't until Kira fired his plasma guns that Shani realized he didn't have the power to deflect the beams and managed to dodge enough so the powerful energy blasts wouldn't destroy him. Then he zoomed in to see Orga and Crot making a speedy escape. He joined them after evading one last attack from Freedom.

"Captain, Lord Uzumi wants us to pull back to Kaguya." Sai announced.

"Kaguya?" Murrue echoed.

"That's their mass driver!" Arnold said.

"Fall back to Kaguya." She ordered.

As the _Archangel_ approached the facilities near the mass driver, Uzumi's face came to life on the main screen. "_Set down in the dock outside and prepare to install a pair of atmospheric boosters._"

The crew followed their orders and Murrue quickly disembarked to seek an explanation from Uzumi. The answer she got was short and possibly even more confusing. "Leave Orb?" she echoed.

Cagalli cut in. "Father, what are you thinking?"

"Our people have been evacuated, and they'll be taken care of elsewhere. From now on, we'll bear the responsibility." As Uzumi spoke, Kira, Athrun and Dearka entered.

"No matter what, we must never give up. The Earth Force's actions are being guided by the leader of the Blue Cosmos, Murata Azrael. To make matters worse, the PLANTs are led by someone who believes that Coordinators are the new species, for Patrick Zala rules them now."

Athrun stared at the floor. "The way things are going, the world will be trapped between two forces that refuse to acknowledge each others existence. Is this the future you want to see? If you wish to see a new world of hope, then take this small light we have lit and set a course for a new future. It is a hard road, but I'm sure you understand why it is necessary, Murrue Ramius." Uzumi finished.

Murrue nodded. "That light may be small, but it burns brightly, and we believe in it as well."

"Then I suggest you get ready."

The main section of the _Kusanagi_, an _Izumo_-class ship, was brought up from storage and loaded with data and the remaining M1 Astrays. Final preparations for the booster attachments were being made for the _Archangel_.

The Earth Alliance detected the buildup at Kaguya and assumed that that's were Orb was making its last stand. Everyone knew that Orb couldn't take a third round of this abuse, it was sure to fall this time.

Murrue and the bridge crew received instructions on how to proceed with the boosters. "Modify your Lohengrin cannons to this modulation, and you'll need to fire them at the precise time you activate the boosters. The modified positron beams will create a feedback interference which will isolate you and provide less resistance and more power for the boosters."

The crew got to work as Dearka, Kira and Athrun chatted outside, near their Gundams. "Y'know, there is no reason why Carpentaria wouldn't take us back. Afterall, we were fighting the Earth Alliance." Dearka suggested, but meant it more as a joke.

Athrun thought about what Lacus told him before he descended to Earth, and then shook his head. "She called me a soldier of ZAFT; it was like she knew all along what would happen. I always thought you were supposed to follow the orders of your nation, and fight with all of your strength. I believed there was no other way to bring a quick end to this war. Now I don't know what I'm fighting for, or against."

"Come with us Athrun, and we can look for those answers, together." Kira offered.

They boarded their suits as Orb's sensor grid picked up the imminent arrival of the three Alliance Gundams. The _Archangel_ was cleared for launch, and because the Buster couldn't sustain atmospheric flight on its own, Dearka joined Flay inside the hangar bay to watch and do nothing. Mir let out a small sigh of relief as the Buster was secured for the launch.

As the three Gundams closed within firing range, the _Archangel_ fired their Lohengrin cannons and activated the boosters, catapulting them into space. Athrun opened fire at the Raider and Calamity, hoping to delay the trio long enough for the _Kusanagi_ to launch.

"_Final launch sequence commenced. _Kusanagi_, you have a go. May the blessings of Haumea be with you._" The flight controller's voice said.

Starting the five kilometer boost, the _Kusanagi_ rode the mass driver as Justice and Freedom struggled to gain a hold on the ship. Kira finally secured himself, and after a moment of trouble, managed to secure Athrun as well. The trio closed in, firing everything they had, but to no effect. Having enough of their barrage, Kira and Athrun fired their own weapons, sending up a massive spray of water to further delay the Gundams.

An in an instant, the _Kusanagi_ was free of the mass driver and on its way into space. "The seeds have flown. We've succeeded, and we can't leave Orb, or the world, in the hands of those bastards." Uzumi said, pressing a small red button that set off a series of explosions which destroyed the mass driver, the Morgenroete facilities, and the control room where Uzumi and the other Emirates stood.

"_Faaaaattthhheeeeer!_"

Sadness hung in the air as the other components of the _Kusanagi_ were installed, the entire process being guarded by everyone: Kira, Athrun, Dearka, Flay and the surviving M1 pilots. Fully assembled, the _Kusanagi_ was a force to be reckoned with, hosting two dual-barreled Gottfried cannons, several batteries of CIWS and two Lohengrin cannons.

Kira and Athrun docked inside the _Kusanagi_ to comfort Cagalli as Flay piloted a shuttle from the _Archangel_ with Murrue and Dearka aboard. They all met on the bridge of Orb's last ship to discuss where they should go.

"As you know, the PLANTs are in the L5 colony cluster. Over in L3 was Heliopolis and Artemis. I suggest we head for the L4 cluster." Kisaka was saying.

"The L4 colony group?" Murrue echoed.

"Neither the _Kusanagi_ or the _Archangel_ will have to resupply for a while, but that doesn't mean the supplies will last indefinitely. Water in particular will become a problem fairly soon. A group of colonies at L4 were damaged and abandoned after the war began. We can use them as water sources."

"That sounds awfully familiar." Murrue felt her stomach sink a little.

"This is different from Junius 7." Kira said, trying to comfort her a little.

"You know I'm pretty sure there are still some functioning colonies at L4. ZAFT investigated the area after receiving reports of a suspicious group holed up there. Of course, this was a while ago. Although no one really lives there anymore, some of the colonies still have functioning facilities." Athrun put in.

"There's another question: are you okay with this?" Flay suddenly asked.

Everyone turned to look at her. "The same question is directed at you Dearka." She continued.

"Flay." Kira said softly.

"I saw you both fight at Orb, and I know your actions speak for themselves, but I can't help but notice the uniforms you're wearing." As a precautionary measure, most pilots kept a change of clothes aboard their mobile suits for emergencies, and Dearka and Athrun were no exceptions. They both donned their usual ZAFT elite uniforms.

"Depending on what happens, I'll bet good money that we'll end up fighting against ZAFT forces, and it won't be like at Orb at all. Are you ready? Really ready?" Flay asked them.

Cagalli looked at Flay with anger on her face. "Why should it matter to you what uniform they wear? You and Kira still wear Alliance uniforms. Even if he is Patrick Zala's son, he's not-"

Murrue cut her off with her gentle tones. "It is a very serious matter for a soldier to desert his army, much more than you seem to think Miss Cagalli. We've all been there, and now both Dearka and Athrun are faced with the same options we were. It will be hard for Athrun because of who his father is. You can't fight in a war without truly believing the cause your side is fighting for, and we've all had that belief turned up on its head."

"I hate to force the issue here, but we all need to know if we can count on you both. Can we?" Flay asked, her tone having calmed down a little.

"Since I joined ZAFT, I believed in the cause we fought for. But meeting you people, and seeing the true colors of both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, I'm not sure who they are anymore, but I do know that I want to end the war as quickly as possible." Dearka said.

"There are many questions in this world that I've thought about, even before the war began. I still don't have those answers, and I may never find them. One thing is for sure, all of you people share the hope for this world that I do."

"Well, you both sound very determined." Murrue confirmed, nodding at their decisions.

"Nothing like my Kira here." Flay said, holding his hand.

Kira chuckled and squeezed her hand lightly. "Since we were little."

"Orb has entrusted us all with a very large and difficult task. We are only two ships and we are trying to do may very well be impossible." Kisaka put in.

"We have faith, and we'll continue to hold the light high."

"There are people in the PLANTs who feel the same way."

"Lacus?" Kira asked.

"Yeah." Athrun confirmed.

"That singer, Mu called her the Pink Princess." Murrue asked.

"She's Athrun's fiancé." Kira told them.

Cagalli's eyes widened in surprise, and Flay was unsure what to think, after all, she had saved Kira's life right before Alaska. "They're hunting for her right now; she was declared a traitor by my father."

* * *

"Commander Le Creuset, you've received orders from the homeland." An aide told him, handing over a sheaf of papers.

"Thank you." Rau nodded, taking the papers and quickly skimming through them. "Well Yzak, it looks like it's our time to return to space. We've been recalled to the _Vesaulius_, it seems that Chairman Zala is having a rather arduous time controlling Lacus Clyne, but I don't believe that's the main reason we've been called back."

"I'm still having a hard time believing it; I can't imagine Lacus Clyne as a traitor." Yzak said, happy to be going home, but wishing it was under better circumstances.

"Clyne's followers are using her for that exact reason Yzak, her fans believe that she can do no wrong. But you're not so gullible as to believe that, are you?" Yzak narrowed his eyes and Rau continued. "War is really about the conflicting ideals between two people. What is it one should be fighting against? Never loose sight of that."

* * *

"Athrun?" Kira called out. His friend looked up at him. "They've finished the preparations, so we should probably head back to the _Archangel_. It won't make much of a difference, but this ship is full of M1s."

Athrun couldn't reply, because Cagalli entered the room. "Kira? We need to talk."

"I'll see you onboard the _Archangel_." Athrun said, taking the hint.

"Athrun wait! Stay here, please."

"Something on your mind Cagalli?" Kira asked.

She fished a photo out of her pocket and handed it to Kira. He didn't quite understand until he turned it over to see two names written on the back. "My father gave that to me, just as I was boarding the _Kusanagi_. He told me that I wouldn't be alone, because I'd be with my brother." Cagalli clutched Athrun's arm for support. "What's it supposed to mean?"

"I don't know." Kira was slow to reply. "I honestly don't have a clue."

_'Twins?'_ Athrun wondered.

"In any case, this doesn't tell us anything really." Kira said, getting past his initial shock.

"Who's the woman holding the babies?" Athrun asked.

"If you and I are brother and sister, then what am I?" she asked. It was clear that Uzumi's death and this sudden revelation had her shaken up.

"Dwelling on it know won't do you any good Cagalli. Whether or not it's true, it doesn't change the fact that Lord Uzumi was still your father."

"_Freedom and Justice are cleared for launch._"

As they floated out of the _Kusanagi's_ hangar, Athrun opened a channel to Kira. "Shouldn't you be with her at a time like this?" he asked.

"No. If I'm with her, then she won't be able to stop thinking about it." Kira replied.

"Makes sense. Do you think they'd let me borrow a shuttle from the _Archangel_ when we get back? I need to make a little trip, a visit to the PLANTs, so I can sit down with my father to have a serious talk. He's my father, and I have to try."

"I understand. I'll talk to Murrue."

"Thanks."

* * *

A/N: Well, it's been a while, and 'Things We Do' was started and finished before this chapter became operational. Ramza, you play a mean April Fool's (anyone who read 'Forever Faithful' knows what I'm talking about), but I'm glad to see you haven't changed. 

The crew in space gives me a lot more freedom to work with, and from here on in, you'll see bigger changes to the storyline.

Prayer

P.S. I urge one and all to visit my website, the URL is located in my profile section. Please sign the guestbook and leave a review of this chapter.


	5. Lacus Strikes at What Stands in the Way

Chapter 5: Lacus Strikes at What Stands in the Way

* * *

"The shuttle will be ready in about an hour. I'm sorry to make you wait so long Athrun, but we haven't used the Cosmograsper since before landing on Earth." Murrue told him.

"It's not a problem, I can wait."

"I'll meet you back here in an hour Athrun; there are a few things I can finish before we leave."

"Okay Kira, and thanks again both of you."

Kira left the hangar bay and floated back to his room. He had been surprised when Murrue offered the Cosmograsper, Kira had assumed the space fighter had been taken apart for spare parts. His mission was to escort Athrun as close as possible and then return to the _Archangel_ until Athrun contacted them.

The door opened and he sat in his chair and turned the computer on. Smiling evilly, he cracked his knuckles and started a program. Music started blasting out of the speakers he had installed, Linkin Park, Disturbed, Powerman 5000, Papa Roach … Kira was in heaven. With this more suitable mood, he opened up another program and started typing furiously.

Half an hour into his work, Flay opened the door to the room she and Kira shared and took a step back as loud music assaulted her ears. She clutched them as she walked in yelling Kira's name in vain.

**_Cut my life into pieces  
_**_**This is my Last Resort  
**__**Suffocation, no breathing  
**__**Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding  
**__**Would it be wrong would it be right  
**__**If I took my life tonight  
**__**Chances are dynamite  
**__**Mutilation out of sight  
**__**And a contemplated suicide  
**__**Cause I'm loosing my sight  
**__**Loosing my mind  
**__**Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine  
**__**Loosing my sight  
**__**Loosing my mind  
**__**Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine  
**__**Nothing's alright  
**__**Nothing is fine  
**__**I'm running and I'm crying  
**__**I can't go on living this way  
**__**Can't go on  
**__**Living this way  
**__**Nothing's all  
**__**RIGHT!**_

The horrible song finally ended and Flay spoke before another one could start. "Kira! What the hell is that horrible racket?"

Kira jumped slightly, he hadn't heard the door open. He quickly paused the WinAmp v.71 and faced her sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in." his hands continued to type as he spoke.

"Well with your music that loud, the entire ship could have exploded and you wouldn't have heard. Anyways, I thought you were supposed to escort Athrun back the PLANTs."

"They're still preparing the Cosmograsper." He saved his work and hit a few more buttons. Kira jumped up from his seat and grabbed Flay's left hand in his and pulled her in close.

"Kira, what are you doing?"

Soft music began to play, a beautiful and slow melody, perfect for dancing. Flay relaxed into Kira's arms and let him lead her around their room. She never understood his romantic impulses, he was totally unpredictable. Not that she minded them, every little thing he did made Flay love him even more. _'On the extremely bright side, he's a good dancer.'_

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. "_Kira Yamato to the Hangar Bay, repeat Kira Yamato to the Hangar Bay._"

Kira sighed as Flay held in a groan. He turned the music off and shut the computer down. "Well, it looks like Murdock was more efficient than usual. I should be back within a day or two, so take care of the _Archangel_. It's up to you and Dearka now."

Flay approached him. "I'll see you off." They walked to the flight room hand in hand, and he changed as quickly as he could. By the time they entered the hangar, Cagalli was already confronting Athrun about his decision to return to the PLANTs.

Kira sighed more heavily and pushed off to stop Cagalli. "Cagalli, this is something he needs to do, don't make this any harder for him."

Cagalli nodded weakly and backed off. Athrun hopped in the seat of the Cosmograsper and sealed the canopy. Kira floated up to the cockpit hatch of Freedom, his helmet in his hand as Flay followed him. "Promise me you'll stay safe." She whispered.

"For you." He promised and sealed it with a tender kiss.

"_Cosmograsper Unit 1, you are cleared to launch._" The space fighter launched.

"_Freedom, you are cleared to launch._" Kira launched to escort back to the PLANTs.

It wasn't a particularly long journey, but Athrun hated long silences. "_You love her, don't you?_"

The question startled Kira, because he had been daydreaming of Flay. "Yes, more than she realizes. She saved me from myself Athrun, and that's a big debt to repay."

"_Out of everyone you knew aboard the _Archangel_, why her? I don't mean that in a negative way, I'm just curious._" Athrun continued.

"It's … a long story that has many twists and turns in it." A beeping noise interrupted both of them. "We're nearing the Jachin Due defense network."

"_You should go back now Kira._"

"I'll stay here until you return."

"_No, go back to the_ Archangel." The conviction in Athrun's voice made Kira uneasy.

"Athrun, it isn't your time to die yet. You know that right? We still have a lot more to do."

Athrun clutched the pendant Cagalli had given him. "_I'll remember that._"

"Make sure you do." Kira disconnected the power transfer cord and stopped his forward momentum.

* * *

Flay hummed happily as she floated down the corridor, her dark blue eyes half closed. Turning the corner, she nearly ran down Dearka, who was floating in the middle of the hall. However, that couldn't ruin her good mood, so she grabbed onto his hands and started to dance with him, still humming.

"Um … Flay?" he asked, the confusion apparent in his voice.

Instead of answering, she simply released him and started her way down the corridor again, heading in her original direction. Turning another corner, Flay saw the lift doors were open. "Hold the lift!" she called out to its occupant.

Flay came to a stop, planting her feet on the floor of the lift. Miriallia closed the doors. "Where are you going Flay?" she asked.

"Nowhere in particular, I've been wandering since Kira left."

Mir shrugged and hit a button at random. "You know he'll be gone for probably less than a day."

"I know, but when I'm with him … he's just so spontaneous."

"Oh? How so?"

Flay explained the little things Kira did for her, leaving notes in the cockpit of her M1, little chocolates on their pillow when he had to work late and finally his little impromptu dance with her.

"I never knew he could be so romantic, I'm having a hard time believing everything he does." Flay finished.

"_All hands, level two battle stations! All pilots to their suits!_" Murrue ordered.

The lift came to a halt coincidentally on the Hangar bay level. Flay waved to Mir as the doors closed and took the other Natural to the bridge. Donning her custom flight suit, Flay stood in front of a man-sized mirror for a second and compared her suit to Kira's.

'_You know, his seems bulkier than mine. But I guess my suit came from Orb, his came from the Alliance._'

Flay quickly made her way to her M1, and halfway up the cockpit, Dearka poked his head out of the Buster. "What took you so long?"

"None of your business Elsman."

He shrugged and sealed his cockpit as Flay settled in the chair of her M1 and started to power up. Dearka's face popped up on a small vid-screen. "_Women always take so long …_" he taunted.

Flay sealed her own cockpit, and instead of replying to him, opened a channel to Mir instead. "M1, all systems green."

"_M1, Buster, you're both cleared to launch._" Mir reported.

"M1 Alster Custom, launching!" Flay shot out of the port side hangar.

"_Dearka Elsman, Buster, moving out!_" The Buster launched out of the starboard hangar and activated the Phase Shift.

"_The _Kusanagi's _Astrays will maintain a Combat Aerospace Patrol around the entrance and just inside of the hangar of this colony. I want you two to scout the immediate vicinity inside the colony itself._" Murrue ordered.

"_I know it's supposed to be abandoned, but we want to take no chances. This could be vital to our immediate survival._" Kisaka added.

"Roger that." Flay confirmed. Dearka simply gave a two-fingered casual salute.

"_Sounds like a walk in the park. Immediate scans showed the colony still had power and had maintained atmosphere. If anyone is actually alive in there, we'll find them pretty quickly._" Dearka told Flay.

"So what was that earlier about me being slow?" Flay asked innocently.

"_Huh?_"

The answer Dearka received to his confused noise was a camera full of thruster wash, and a rapidly shrinking M1 in feminine colors. He swore to himself and gunned his own engines, struggling to catch up to her. The tan Coordinator was granted a small mercy as Flay had to wait for the large doors to open to allow access to the colony interior.

"_What the hell were you thinking? You don't just run off like that in a potentially dangerous situation like this!_" he scolded, annoyed at her lack of military discipline on the battlefield.

"You're no fun." She pouted. "There's no sign of human life within my scanning range. This colony is deserted Dearka."

"_We'll do a flyby of the central shaft and the other entrance and then report back to the _Archangel_. Do you understand?_"

"Who put you in charge?" she challenged.

"_Listen Flay, I've been a mobile suit pilot since before the Heliopolis incident. I've graduated from the ZAFT Military Academy with top honors, earning me the right to wear an Elite's Red Coat. You on the other hand had never experienced a battle first-hand before the fall of Orb. You were a civilian dragged into the war, and with no previous experience, given the enormous task of piloting a mobile suit._"

"So?"

"_Besides, if you died somehow, Kira would probably kill me._"

That made more sense to Flay. "Don't worry Dearka, I won't die, and I'll tell him that you took good care of me in his absence." She assured him.

The two pilots completed their recon with no further incident. Upon hearing the 'all clear' signal from Flay and Dearka, the _Archangel _and the _Kusanagi_ docked inside the colony hangar and their crews immediately attached large power cords from the colony to their ships to ease the drain on the ships and their systems.

"_We'll maintain a patrol of two mobile suits outside the colony at all times on a rotating schedule. Recon teams will survey the interior for supplies, and then we'll send recovery crews later._" Kisaka informed them.

"_Dearka and Flay, I'd like you two to take the first CAP, Asagi and Julie next, Mayura and Barry after them …_" Kisaka began to read off their assignments.

Dearka opened a private channel to Flay, one that no one else could listen in on. "_Flay, can I ask you a question?_"

"Sure, you can even ask me another one." She teased him, but stopped when she saw the serious look on his face. "What's wrong Dearka?"

"_I want to get to know Miriallia better … and since you're her friend, I thought you might be able to help me._"

His request surprised Flay a little. After a small pause, she answered him. "I don't know what you want to know, but I don't know if Miriallia would be comfortable with me telling you this. Cheer up, she doesn't hate you, she's just unsure of what you mean to her."

"_I guess that's a good thing, but maybe if you spoke to her, told her about me … or something._"

"Look, I don't want to sound like a bitch, but you've got to do this yourself. You're a man, right? Muster up that ZAFT Elite courage and go talk to a girl for once." Flay taunted.

"_I knew I should have asked someone else, I just thought maybe you'd help me. Honestly, sometimes I don't know why I even bother; you're too wrapped up in your little Yamato-world to care about the rest of us._"

'_Yamato-world?_' she wondered.

"Hey, no need to start that, I was just teasing you. If you want my advice Dearka, then you really should just talk to her in person. I know her shift ends when our CAP ends, so you have a chance there." Flay suggested.

"_Thanks._"

Three hours passed with little to do. Flay started to run a small diagnostic on her suit, simply because she was bored. Halfway into the scan half an hour later, Dearka's faced popped up again.

"_Hey Flay?_" he said a little nervously.

"What now Dearka?" she asked, not looking up at the screen.

"_What should I say to her?_"

Flay sighed and paused the diagnostic. "I can't write a script for you, but I will give you a little advice, and remember, if you hurt her in any way, I will exact revenge."

Dearka gulped as Flay continued. "You've got to be yourself, don't project an image of someone that you aren't, you have to be true to yourself and your heart. And don't pressure her, every time she looks at Athrun, I can see Tolle flash in her eyes."

"_Right … I think I understand. Just be myself. Thanks Flay._" His image winked out.

She shook her head and resumed the diagnostic, watching as the computer scanned itself and the entire mobile suit bit by bit. The sound of the vidscreen coming to life a few minutes later punctured the silence. "What is it this time Dearka?" Flay asked, annoyed at his seemingly unending interruptions.

"_Dearka?_"

"Kira!" Flay said happily, looking up to the screen to see Kira's head, his helmet off. "How did you-"

"_I modified a few systems on the Freedom._" He explained nonchalantly. "_Even the Jachin Due defense force can't pinpoint this signal, and only you can receive it._"

"You're broadcasting near the largest assembled ZAFT force? Are you crazy?" Flay was shocked.

"_Like I said, they won't be able to trace it. But that's not why I called. Patch this video feed through one of your larger monitors._" Flay typed in a few commands and in an instant her right-side monitor was replaced with Kira's mysterious video feed.

"So what am I supposed to be seeing?" she asked, seeing very little from the feed.

"_Hush, just watch._" He said quietly.

Another minute passed and realization struck Flay the same time the sun began to appear over the edge of Earth. Of all the sunsets and sunrises she had seen on Earth, those were nothing compared to this sunrise. Light seemed to spread around half the planet as the sun slowly emerged from behind.

"Kira, it's beautiful."

"_Just like you._" Flay blushed a little at his compliments.

They sat in silence until the sun was completely out from behind the planet. A proximity alarm could be heard and Flay immediately checked her scanners. They showed only the Buster in the immediate vicinity, and Dearka wasn't reacting. It had to be from Kira's end.

"_I've got to go, their defense force is scrambling to intercept something, from the size I'd say a ship, but from the speed … well I'm not too sure. I'll see you in a few hours._" Kira reported while at the same time putting his helmet on.

"Kira, be careful." His image winked out, leaving her alone again.

The rest of her CAP seemed to drag on, especially with Kira's sudden alert. Flay was beginning to get so worried about Kira that she didn't even notice when Julie and Asagi came to relieve them.

"_M1 and Buster, you are cleared to land._" Mir announced.

Flay's M1 was quickly secured in the storage rack against the wall and as her cockpit hatch open; she began to shiver in fear. Fear of the thought of losing Kira again. There was no doubt in her mind that he was a very talented pilot in an excellent machine, but he had been sitting out there for hours on end and probably had to face the entire Jachin Due defense force.

"Knock knock! Anyone home?" Dearka's voice finally registered in her head.

"Huh?" she asked confused.

"You've been sitting in here for the past five minutes, staring at nothing. Are you okay?" he asked, a little concerned.

She took a moment to think before she answered. "I'll be fine. Thanks Dearka. Now go find Mir and talk to her, and remember if you hurt her …" she left her threat unfinished.

He raised his hands in defeat. "I know, I know. Thanks Flay." He floated down the hangar deck and entered the lift alone.

* * *

'_Wow, that's pink._' Was the first thought that entered Kira's head when he saw ZAFT's target. Several GINNs fired their M66 Canus missiles at the rogue ship, and a salvo of missiles from the ship rapidly intercepted the offending warheads.

A few well-timed bursts from their main cannon destroyed three or four GINNs, but more closed in and released their salvo of heavy missiles. The pink ship became hard pressed to intercept them all.

'_They're not going to make it!_' Kira sprung into action, aiming his beam rifle at the missiles closest to the ship. Every time he pulled the trigger, a missile exploded. In a few seconds, Kira had destroyed that volley and engaged his Hi-MAT mode and targeted the mobile suits in range.

He fired, blowing off heads and hands that held the weapons and some of the beams destroyed the weapons themselves. The fight was over for now; the GINNs retreated back to their fortress. Kira opened a channel to the ship.

"This is Kira Yamato, pilot of the Freedom."

"_Kira!_" a happy voice exclaimed.

Kira opened a video link; the voice was all-too familiar. "Lacus?"

"_Yes!_" she confirmed.

"_Hey there youngster._" Another voice chimed in. "_You saved our butts._"

Kira knew that voice as well, but he thought the owner was dead. "Mister Bartfeld?"

"_Dead on. I knew you were a smart one._"

"I'll escort you back to our base." Kira offered.

"_Sounds good youngster, we all have a lot to talk about._"

* * *

The _Eternal_ docked inside the Mendel colony hangar and a small shuttle was dispatched from the newest addition to the alliance. They all met aboard the _Archangel_ and formed three groups. Murrue, Sai, Mir, Dearka, Athrun Flay and Kira from the _Archangel_, Kisaka, Cagalli, Barry, Julie, Mayura and Asagi from the _Kusanagi_, and Bartfeld, DaCosta and Lacus from the _Eternal_.

"So I guess 'How are you doing' would be a bit awkward. I'm Captain Andrew Bartfeld, commander of the _Eternal_, the ship of the songstress." Andy introduced.

"I'm Captain Murrue Ramius of the _Archangel_." Murrue shook Andy's offered hand.

"And I'm Colonel Ledonir Kisaka of the _Kusanagi_." Kisaka finished.

"My sympathies for what happened to Orb. I'm glad to see the little princess made it out alive." Andrew offered.

"Little Princess?" Cagalli repeated, dumbfounded.

"You have a real reason to want revenge Mister Bartfeld." Kira said, not meeting the man's eyes.

"This is war youngster, everyone does, and at the same time, no one does."

"But perhaps such matters can be discussed elsewhere?" Kisaka suggested.

"Yes, I quite agree." Murrue looked at her pilots. "You're dismissed."

Everyone under the age of 20 looked at her with confused expressions.

"You'll be included in future discussions, but right now it's best if you let us talk first." Kisaka said before leaving.

Andy, DaCosta and Murrue followed, leaving the young teens to themselves. "I'm going to run a maintenance check on the Buster." Dearka announced right before leaving.

"Actually, my bridge shift started already." Sai agreed, catching up with Dearka.

"I need some sleep first." Mir told them.

"We've got our Aerospace Patrol to finish." Barry led the other three Astray pilots away.

"I've got … stuff to think about." Athrun said lamely. Cagalli latched onto his arm and followed, leaving Kira and Lacus together again.

Kira scratched his head, unsure of what to say. "So, how have you been?"

And he immediately regretted it; he could see the emotions swirl in Lacus' eyes. For a second, she held it back, and then gave in. "It's my father Kira. He's … he's dead!"

She wasn't sure if she could seek comfort from him, but after a very quick deliberation, she threw herself into his arms and cried. Kira hesitated for a moment, unsure if this would be considered cheating on Flay, but then reasoned that Lacus was a friend in need, and wrapped his arms softly around her.

* * *

"They've already killed her father, well murdered is more like it, and they were hunting for her before we made our escape. Thanks to Kira, we survived and now ZAFT will most likely continue their pursuit."

"But now they have added reason, after all, you've taken with you their latest ship." Kisaka said.

"True, but the _Eternal_ was designed for the exclusive use of the Freedom and the Justice, she wasn't meant to hold any other mobile suits. The hangar bay has been designed with them in mind, the same with the launch system." Andrew explained.

"Well I for one am glad to see that not everyone in this war is hell-bent on genocide." Murrue said with a little relief.

"Unfortunately, I expect ZAFT to be scouring the area soon, Lacus was considered to be Patrick Zala's worst enemy, because of her views of the future, that and the theft of Freedom. We may be more trouble than we are worth." Andrew laughed lightly.

"Regardless of what happens, this isn't going to be similar to the first time ZAFT chased after us, everything has changed now." Murrue said confidently.

* * *

Dearka rubbed his face, trying to rid himself of the fatigue he felt. A good solid sleep would cure it for sure, but then he'd be putting it off even longer. Gathering his courage, he made up his mind to talk to Miriallia. Thinking she was in her quarters, he floated his way towards them, passing the mess hall on the way.

Luck was with him, she was sitting the hall alone, a half-eaten meal tray pushed to the side. Dearka halted his forward momentum and entered the mess hall. Nervousness threatened to overwhelm him as stood in the doorway, staring at her.

'_I am a ZAFT Elite, I can do this!_' "Hey Mir." He said almost casually.

'_So far so good …_' he walked and sat down across from her, hearing a small and rather timid greeting as he did so. "You looked lonely; I thought you might want some company." He said, answering her unspoken question.

"Thank you, I probably could."

"So how are you holding up?" he asked.

"I'm doing better. It's nice to see Lacus again, but everyone's so busy with the re-supply and watching for enemy ships that at the same time, it seems like I'm doing worse."

"Look," he started. It wasn't going to be pretty, but he had to know. "About Tolle …"

In an instant Mir's eyes hardened with anger and she glared at him. "What the hell is your problem?" she demanded. "As if that wasn't hard enough for me already, I have to see his killer's face every day, and every day I try to remember that he didn't want to kill Tolle. But every day it gets harder!"

Dearka lowered his head. "I'm sorry for bringing it up. I can't tell you that I know what it feels like, and I can't tell you that you'll get over this, because I honestly don't know."

Some of the anger faded from her eyes, so he continued. "I'm not asking you to forget about him, I'm not asking you to forgive Athrun either, and I'm not asking you out on a date. All I ask of you is to remember that if you need someone to talk to, any time, any where, I'm here. Please, remember that."

He stood as if expecting something, and after a moment of silence, he left the mess hall, feeling as though a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Maybe things weren't so bad after all …

* * *

It had been five days since the _Eternal_ had docked at the Mendel colony. Five days of almost non-stop work. The Mendel colony interior had been quickly surveyed and several prominent water sources were found. In a very short time, all three ships had taken on more water than they thought they could possibly hold.

Kojiro and his tech crew completed their project, the repairs to the Strike Gundam. It stood proud once again in the hangar of the _Archangel_, but Flay declined immediate use, saying she wanted to train with if first.

The skeleton crew of the _Eternal_ was busy making adjustments to the ship that would further benefit the minimal crew. On the fifth day, Murrue contacted Lacus, Athrun and Kira. "_Since the _Eternal_ was designed for Freedom and Justice, we'll transfer those two over to your ship, and keep the Buster and a few M1s. The _Kusanagi_ will keep her complement._"

"_That sounds like it will work._" Lacus agreed.

"We'll transfer right away." Kira nodded.

But before anyone could react, a large heat source was detected, flying towards the Mendel colony quickly. "_Looks like a warship class, distance of 700. No match in the library._" Sai reported.

"_All hands, level one battle stations!_" Murrue ordered.

Freedom and Justice were prepped to be first off the catapults, followed by Flay's M1 and the Buster. The pilots stood by, waiting as patiently as possible. A large explosion rocked the colony, and Murrue ordered the _Archangel_ to leave the hangar in order to fight better.

The _Kusanagi _was going to follow to back the warship up, and the _Eternal_ still needed time for more adjustments. "_Incoming transmission!_" Mir announced.

"_This is the Earth Alliance forces mobile assault ship _Dominion Archangel_, do you read? The military has classified you as a renegade ship. We therefore demand your immediate surrender. Your ship will be destroyed if you fail to comply. Captain Ramius, it's been some time._" Natarle broadcasted.

"_Yes, it has._" Murrue agreed, astounded at seeing another ship of the _Archangel_-class.

"_I regret having to meet under theses … circumstances. I heard about what happened at Alaska, but nevertheless I strongly urge you to surrender so you can discuss the matter with the authorities. I don't have much influence, but I'll do everything I can to help you. You're well aware of this ship's capabilities._" She offered.

"_Natarle, thanks for your concern, but we can't do as you ask. This isn't only about Alaska; we have serious doubts about the Earth forces in their entirety. No surrender, and no return to the military._"

"_But Captain Ramius-_" Natarle was cut off.

"_That exchange was simply fascinating. Oh Captain, you should be embarrassed. There would be no conflicts in this world if everything was solved through discussion. Misunderstandings create enemies, and when you have enemies, you shoot them._"

"_Director Azrael?_" Natarle questioned

"_Calamity, Forbidden and Raider, launch! Today we destroy the invincible _Archangel" He ordered.

The _Archangel_ launched their mobile suits, and Murrue ordered Flay and Dearka to stay back and defend the ship. Mir reported the launch of a squadron of Strike Daggers and a single unidentified mobile suit.

It was, according to their poorly updated identification library, a GAT-01A1+AQM/E-X04, or in simpler terms, an upgraded Strike Dagger, the 105 Dagger with a Gunbarreled Striker pack.

And it was utter chaos. The pilot of the Gunbarrel Dagger was very good; he managed to keep both the Freedom and the Justice at bay while the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider moved unopposed towards the _Archangel_. Finally, Kira snapped.

"Enough of this!" he yelled, drawing a beam saber and charging the 105 Dagger.

"_If you value your life Kira, you'll retreat now._" The pilot warned him.

Kira almost stopped. "Mu? Mu La Flaga?"

And his answer came from the four gunbarrels opening fire on him. Kira blocked and deflected what he could, but there were too many beams for him to handle, and the right arm of Freedom was blown off at the shoulder joint. He knocked Mu away with his shield before ejecting it and drawing his second saber.

"Why are you doing this Mu?" Kira demanded, slashing down at the 105 Dagger.

Mu drew both of his hip-mounted sabers and blocked the overhead slash and with his free saber stabbed the Freedom in the head. "_Kira!_" Athrun screamed, flying to help his friend, only to back off to avoid a volley from the gunbarrels.

"_This was the only way I could see to help end the war. I'm sorry kid._" Mu tried to explain.

And he suddenly realized that the three Gundams failed in their task to neutralize the _Archangel_. Two powerful Lohengrin beams shot by him on either side, aimed at the _Dominion_. Natarle ordered evasive maneuvers, but the crew wasn't fast enough, and the ship sustained damage.

Signal flares went up to signal their retreat. "_We'll meet again kid, and I can only hope it'll be better next time._" Mu said before rushing back to his mothership.

Athrun grabbed hold of the damaged Freedom and they flew back to the _Eternal_ to dock. It was evident that Kira was injured, even after the Freedom had been secured, the cockpit hatch remained closed. Former ZAFT techs manually opened the hatch and immediately, the call for a medic was sounded.

Athrun couldn't see exactly what happened to his friend, but it wasn't light injuries. Before he could ask, Kira was rushed off the medical ward. An hour later, Athrun was still tinkering with the Justice when Flay's M1 landed, and she hurriedly exited, obviously looking for Kira.

He had been released back to his new quarters on the _Eternal_, cleared by the doctor. Kira was sleeping off a mild concussion, and had a bandage around his left hand, the doctor had said something about a piece of shrapnel impaling itself through his hand and trapping it against the joystick his hand had been wrapped around.

Flay stroke his bangs out of his eyes as she spoke softly. "Oh Kira …" she sighed.

The door chime sounded, and Flay jumped to answer it, if only to stop the offending person from ringing it again and risk waking Kira. The door slid open, letting the bright corridor light flood in around Flay's curves. And the person who wanted in was none other than Lacus Clyne.

"Can I help you?" Flay asked as politely as she could.

"I just came to check up on Kira. How is he doing?"

Flay debated closing the door in Lacus' face, but decided against it. "It was a rough battle, fighting Mu like that. Kira was caught off guard mentally and paid for it physically as well. Your doctors say he'll be back on his feet by the morning, but I'm never so optimistic about the human mind." She said quietly.

"I don't mean to be rude, but aren't you stationed on the _Archangel_?" Lacus inquired.

Flay narrowed her eyes, "I'm not allowed to spend time with my boyfriend on this ship?" she questioned.

"No, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry, it's late, and it has been a rough day, for us all. I apologize." Lacus bowed and turned to leave.

"Lacus wait." Flay said, not quite believing she had just said that. "I'm sorry as well, for everything. Since we first met, I've been … well I've been a bitch."

Lacus smiled faintly. "I understand what you went through then." And then she left.

"Flay?" Kira whispered.

Flay heard him speak, so she closed the doors and moved to his side, sitting on the bed. "I'm here Kira."

He smiled and searched in the dark for her hand. She slid her fingers through his and he held it tightly, not wanting to let go. "Stay with me?" he pleaded.

"Of course." She assured him, settling into a more comfortable position. A silence settled in, and Flay broke it. "Kira?"

"Hm? What is it Flay?"

"Tell me about your time in the PLANTs." She asked.

He gathered his thoughts and breath for a moment, and then started. "After the Aegis tried to fire its Scylla cannon, Athrun went for the self destruct …"

_And the rest is history …

* * *

_

A/N: Well that was longer than I thought it would be, and there is still more I wanted to add. Oh well. That last line doesn't mean the end of the story, it just means that Kira is telling her of the SEED T.V. Adaptation Manga version of the events that transpired after the Aegis blew up.

Thanks for the reviews (few as they were), please keep on reviewing, let me know how the story is.

A note about my site (URL is in my profile): the AMV section actually works now, no more dead links. Sorry for the delay, but that's what happens when I don't check my code.

Prayer


	6. The Opening Doors sends us into a Spiral...

Chapter 6: The Opening Doors sends us into a Spiral of Encounters

* * *

"Flay!"

The red-haired Natural turned her head to see who was calling her. It was Athrun Zala, the pilot of the Justice Gundam and longtime friend of her boyfriend, Kira Yamato. She slowed herself to allow the blue-haired Coordinator to catch up.

"How's Kira doing?"

"He's fine; the doctors have cleared him for active duty." She answered.

"Well, you can tell him that the repairs to Freedom are almost complete." Athrun pulled ahead of her and continued towards his destination, where it was.

Flay paid him little heed, she stopped off at the mess hall and grabbed two food trays, one for her and one for Kira. Humming to herself, she set off back to Kira's room, carefully balancing both trays as she went.

And around the corner came Cagalli, moving at such speeds that the blond didn't even register that Flay was there until her shoulder rammed one of the trays, sending the food flying, hitting Flay in the face and chest.

"Sorry!" Cagalli said, and there was no conviction or regret in her voice. She simply continued on, not bothering to see if Flay needed help. Not that Flay would have accepted Cagalli's help either.

"Stupid bitch." She mumbled at Cagalli's rapidly retreating form. Flay took a moment to try to clean up the mess Cagalli had caused. The other food tray was salvageable, so she grabbed it and made her way back to Kira's room again.

The door opened with a swish and Kira looked up to see his girlfriend covered in food from the head down. "What happened to you?" he asked, barely managing to contain his laughter.

"Laugh it up Yamato." She replied angrily, pushing the food tray into his stomach none too gently. "That stupid blond ran into me and then left."

"Cagalli did this?"

"I swear she does this on purpose, she's got something against me, and I'll be damned if it continues!" Flay took off her jacket, only to find her pink undershirt had been stained as well. "We have a meeting in two hours; I can't go looking like this!"

Kira moved behind her and hugged her. "Calm down Flay. You know, if we get married, she'll be your sister-in-law."

That struck home. Flay wasn't too sure on what surprised her more, the casual talk about marriage or the sudden revelation that Cagalli was Kira's sister. She decided to question his relationship with Cagalli first before asking about their own. "She's your sister?"

"Yeah, it kind of slipped my mind, but we found out just after we got back into space." Kira chuckled.

She turned to face him. "That was almost two weeks ago."

He shrugged. "Time flies when you're with the one you love." Flay felt her knees turn to jelly, Kira was being romantic again. "Now, how about we take a shower to clean you up?" he suggested slyly.

Flay smiled seductively and led Kira by his hand into the shower stall and turned on the water.

* * *

"The _Dominion_ wasn't severely damaged by the Lohengrins, and I expect another attack from them before the day is out. They want the _Archangel_ destroyed." Kisaka was saying.

The lift doors opened to allow Kira and Flay to enter the bridge, holding hands. "Glad you could join us Ensigns Yamato and Alster." Murrue said dryly.

Kira grinned sheepishly, running his hand through his still damp hair. "Sorry, we lost track of time."

Cagalli noticed Flay glaring at her, so she smiled innocently and turned her attention back to the briefing and Athrun, who was in front of her. "Well, the adjustments to the _Eternal_ are complete, so if they come looking for a fight, they're going to get one." Andy informed them.

"We have another angle to factor in. They have Mu, and he's fighting for them." Kira put in, all business now. "He's the pilot of that Gunbarrel Dagger, and when they attack, you can be sure that he'll be out there."

"I'm sure if he was given the opportunity, he would come back to our ranks, but I'll bet that Azrael doesn't completely trust Mu, so there's probably some sort of remote bomb on his mobile suit." Murrue said.

"That's not the end to our troubles. We've picked up at least three silhouettes of _Nazca_-class destroyers, heading this way. At their current velocities, they'll also be here before the day is out." Kisaka said.

"My advice to you all is to take it easy for now. Do what you have to do, but don't tire yourself out. Eat lots and rest when you need to." Andy advised them.

"Dismissed!" Murrue ordered.

Kira escorted Flay down to the hangar bay. "I've got some things I still need to do, but I'll see you tonight, okay?" she whispered.

"Sounds good." Kira whispered back, unsure of why they were actually whispering.

Flay positioned herself so that her face was mere inches away from Kira's and spoke again. "I love you, you know that right? No matter what happens, I'll always love you."

Kira wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in even closer. "I know, and I'll love you forever and always."

She kissed him lightly on the lips before slipping out of his arms, leaving Kira feeling quite unsatisfied. Before the cockpit of her M1 closed, Kira saw her mouth the word 'tonight'.

* * *

"_Say, Commander La Flaga …_" Azrael started.

Mu looked up from the controls in the cockpit to see Azrael waiting on the vidscreen. "What is it Director Azrael?" he growled out.

"_Well, since you managed to best one of those two machines the last go around, I was hoping that you might actually be able to capture one of them this round._"

"Things never go as you plan in a battle, trust me."

"_Well, it would be of great assistance to our terrestrial forces, and we might even be able to end the war in a few swift strokes if you do._"

"And if we encounter ZAFT forces?"

"_Prioritize._"

Mu terminated the connection. "Mu La Flaga launching!"

* * *

"_All hands, level one battle stations! The _Dominion_ has been sighted!_"

It was just over an hour since Flay had left to return to the _Archangel_, and now it seemed as if Kira would be seeing his girlfriend a lot sooner. Like right now. The _Archangel_ had launched first, allowing Dearka and Flay to face off against three Strike Daggers, the 105 Gunbarrel Dagger and the three Gundams.

The _Kusanagi_ was next out of the hangar, adding several more M1s to the mix, evening out the odds considerably. The _Eternal_ was slow to launch, thanks to their untested adjustments.

"_We don't have time for this! Open the bay doors, I'll launch from here!_" Athrun growled impatiently.

"_Bay doors are open, Justice is cleared for launch._"

Athrun shot out of Lacus' ship at full speed and joined the fight, using his wild charge to shatter the Gundams formation. Still sore from losing previous times, all three living CPU pilots turned to chase after the crimson Gundam.

Dearka's proximity alarm went off, showing the 105 Dagger closing in, the gunbarrels deploying, just like Mu used to with his Moebius Zero. Mu closed within firing range and suddenly the gunbarrels snapped back onto the rack and the veteran Natural sped past the Buster.

"_What the? You're not getting away from me that easily pops!_" Dearka yelled.

"_Don't call me pops! ZAFT is here!_" Mu replied angrily.

For an instant, Dearka was torn. Mu was someone he had learned to trust back in Orb, and they had spotted at least three _Nazca_-class silhouettes earlier. If ZAFT had launched their mobile suits, then the least Dearka could do was confirm their presence. He turned and gunned his verniers to follow Mu.

The tanned Coordinator caught up to Mu just before they passed the _Eternal_. Bartfeld opened a channel to Dearka. "_Hey, what the hell is going on here?_"

"_ZAFT is inside the colony!_"

Kira joined in. "_I'll go back them up, Athrun has the rest of the force to help him. At any rate, it probably won't take long._" The Freedom disappeared, following Mu and Dearka. The _Eternal_ launched right after Kira left, joining the battle for the first time since their escape from the PLANTs.

Flay looked at her battle chronometer. They had been fighting for over 30 minutes now, and while all of the Strike Daggers had been destroyed, Athrun was hard pressed to go on the offensive against the Forbidden, Raider and Calamity. And they had lost an M1, with two more retreating due to battle damage.

'_Kira, where are you?_' Flay wondered. And just when they thought it couldn't get worse …

"_Three _Nazca_-class destroyers have appeared from behind the colony!_" Mir reported

A dozen GINNs joined the battle, and three of them fell prey immediately to the Earth Alliance Gundams. Flay couldn't keep track of so many targets at once and Crot took advantage of her confusion. He charged his Zorn cannon and fired.

On her part, Flay managed to block the shot with her shield, but the cannon was too powerful and her shield too weak, and it blew her M1's left arm off. "I'm hit! I'm returning to the _Archangel_!" she informed them.

"_Roger that, I'll cover you._" Dearka replied, flying out of the colony at full speed.

The Forbidden tried to finish Raider's job, but Dearka formed his anti-armor shotgun and fired, distracting Shani long enough for Flay to fall back. "Where's the Freedom?"

"_I'm … I'm here, with Mu. He's injured._" Kira responded a bit shakily.

The Freedom was holding a damaged 105 Dagger, the mass production suit was missing half of the head and the right arm, and the four gunbarrels were in bad shape. Kira set down in the hangar before Flay reached the ship.

The _Eternal_ and _Kusanagi_ moved to hold off the three ZAFT ships as the _Archangel_ continued to deal with the _Dominion_. Athrun could breath just a tad easier as Dearka moved in to assist him, so the blue-haired Coordinator armed and threw a beam boomerang at Crot, who easily dodged the frontal assault.

As the Raider lined up a shot with his hyper velocity shield cannon, the boomerang arced around and sliced off the lower part of the Raider's left leg. Dearka fired his hyper impulse cannon and destroyed the Sabot energy bazooka the Calamity wielded. In a final move, Athrun sliced the Forbidden's Nidhoggr heavy scythe in two with his beam sabers, forcing all three Gundams into a temporary retreat.

"_The _Dominion_ is moving off, good job everyone._" Now all they had left to deal with was ZAFT.

"_Target the _Vesalius_, we'll use that as the breaking point._" Lacus ordered.

The _Kusanagi_ and the _Eternal_ fired all of their weapons at once, energy cannons and Lohengrins, at the _Vesalius_, the beams piercing all the way through the ship. Athrun landed on the top of the _Archangel_ with Dearka as they followed the hole that had been created. As they passed the burning destroyer, both Dearka and Athrun saluted their former ship, and noticed the captain, Ades, saluting near the bridge viewports.

Ades always quoted the ancient Roman Gladiators before going into a battle. _Those about to die, we salute you._ The ship exploded, leaving the ZAFT forces in disarray as the Tri-Ship Alliance made their escape.

The techs finally secured the damaged 105 Dagger and the Freedom, now that they were out of immediate danger. "_Kira, don't put any stock into what Rau said back there, he's nothing more than a demented freak._" Mu said.

Kira didn't reply, he was staring at his helmet's faceplate. Murdoch poked his head in the cockpit. "Kira, whatcha doing?"

At that point, Kira snapped. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" he swung his arms and pushed out of the cockpit, narrowly missing Kojiro as he floated.

"Woah kid, slow down a second." Kojiro tried to reason.

"Don't touch me! Just stay the hell away from me!" the commotion Kira was causing attracted everyone's attention.

Mu pulled away from the medics to explain the situation. "Rau opened a door that should never have existed in the first place." He said quietly, Kira didn't need to hear everything twice. "He wasn't born from his mother but rather as an experiment from an artificial womb, and he was by no means the first."

As Mu spoke, Kira struck out at anyone who tried to get close to him, whether they were technicians or other crewmembers. The general populace of the hangar got the point and resumed their work, leaving the boy to drift off to a corner.

Kira was curled up in a ball, hugging his knees to his chest as Flay approached. His head snapped up and his breathing was shallow. "Stay away …" he warned her.

She pulled him into a tender hug as best she could. "It's okay Kira, everything will be fine." She tried to calm him down.

He pulled away from her. "Everything will be fine?" he echoed. "I'm not even human for gods' sake! I was created, an experiment, and a fluke! Look at these hands! Stained with blood from those I've killed and those who've died before me! You'd be better off staying away from me."

"Kira, think of how many more would have died if you hadn't fought. Even I would be dead by now." Flay tried to reason.

"I'm not worth if Flay, I don't know what gave me the idea that I was good enough for you, because I'm not. I was created to fight, to bring endless suffering."

Flay's voice hardened. "Kira Yamato, I will decide who is good enough for me and who isn't. I love you for who you are, not what you are. It's been that way from the beginning and it will continue until the end. I told you earlier today that I will love you no matter what, and that wasn't a lie."

Her words finally managed to penetrate the words Rau had said, he broke down completely, after trying in vain to hold in the tears. Flay pulled him in close again and soothed him for several minutes before leading him to her room.

"Everything will be fine Kira, I promise." She whispered.

* * *

"Well, I honestly think morale has hit rock bottom. Of course last time I thought that, someone threw me a shovel and told me to start digging." Mu said.

"A war of attrition is one we will surely loose. Supplies are one thing, but mobile suits and pilots are a completely different matter." Kisaka agreed.

"Well, the suits and pilots are a problem that will be addressed in due time, right now we need to concentrate on morale." Andy prioritized. "Any suggestions?"

They all brainstormed for several minutes, each of them thinking of ideas that would be suitable for all generations of their crews. Perhaps this is why there were people who did nothing but plan any morale-raising events, they were quite difficult to think of.

"A dance." Everyone turned to face Murrue. "What? It'll be perfect. All of the crew will be able to talk in an informal manner. At the very least it'll get most of us in the same room."

No one else had a better idea at the time, so they got to work.

* * *

A general announcement had been made on all three ships, which got most of the crews quite excited. Even their own home armies had never done something quite like this before, so it was sure to be fun for all. Volunteers were required to continue to man the ships, and several people aboard each ship selflessly agreed to the job.

A day after the announcement, information holograms were displayed on each ship, detailing the day, time and type of dance it was going too be. Kira and Flay read the hologram and while Flay smiled with joy, Kira couldn't help but becoming a little pale at the thought of a dance.

Social gatherings were never his forte, and of late, he had a hard time being around more than a dozen people in the mess hall, even with Flay there. She had never left his side, or he hadn't left hers, since their escape from Mendel.

But attending the dance would make Flay happy, and it would please the rest of his friends as well. His eyes caught another detail on the hologram. Semi-formal. Kira didn't quite know what that meant, but he was sure it couldn't be that good.

* * *

There was a knock on the door and Mu sipped his coffee before answering. "Come in." he scrolled down a few paragraphs as the door slid open.

Kira walked uncertainly into Mu's room. It was a little messy, much as Kira's room was, even with Flay tidying up after the boy. The boy scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Uh … about the dance …"

"Let me guess, you don't have anything semi-formal to wear." Mu anticipated.

It was true, Kira had only a few changes of the Earth Alliance uniform, a pilot's suit and his one set of clothes from Heliopolis. He could have picked something up while in Banadia with Cagalli, or at Orb, before or after Tolle's death, but nothing like this had ever crossed his mind.

"Well Kid, I think I might have just the thing to save you, and it might impress that girl of yours. Speaking of which, you two have been inseparable since we left Mendel, and yet, here you are."

"Flay's off doing … something. She didn't give me a lot of details." Kira answered as Mu rummaged through his uniforms hanging in his closet.

After a moment, the older man pulled out a uniform and presented it to Kira. "It's from my graduation of the flight academy on Earth years ago. It's way too small for me, and I kept it around for sentimental reasons. I want you to have it. Wear it to the dance, you'll look good in it, Flay will love it." Mu explained.

Kira looked at it and Mu doubtfully, but it was his only option. "Thanks."

* * *

The night of the dance arrived, and the volunteer helmsman for the _Archangel_ set the ship into a slow spin to simulate some artificial gravity. The shuttles containing the crews from the other two ships had arrived previously, and they were all getting ready. Kira hadn't seen Flay at all today, and when he stood outside her room, she locked the door.

Staring into the mirror, Kira gave himself a quick once-over. Mu's uniform fit him perfectly, broad enough across the shoulders, long enough pant legs and arms, it was as if the uniform was created for Kira and not Mu.

Deviating from the typical and standard Alliance uniform, the dress uniform was more like a business suit, with black pants, silver shirt, black tie with white diagonal stripes and a black coat.

"Well, lets get this over with." He told himself, and left to join the others in a lounge set aside and redecorated for the dance.

* * *

More than half of the guests were already in attendance by the time the doors opened to let Kira in. Mu, in a standard Earth Alliance dress uniform, was talking to Andy, who was in a ZAFT Commanders dress uniform, and DaCosta, in his own dress uniform.

Dearka and Athrun, both in their Elite ZAFT dress uniforms, were talking with Cagalli, who was in the green strapless dress that Andy had given her back in the desert. Forgoing her own dress uniform, Murrue was wearing a simple light blue blouse and knee-length grey skirt which suited her quite well. She was talking with Arnold and Kojiro, the helmsman in his own EA dress uniform and the chief mechanic for once neatly groomed and clean-shaven in a tuxedo look-alike.

Lacus looked very elegant in a full-length pink dress with frills running from the skirt portion down and sleeves that poofed out from just below the shoulders and slimed down once they hit mid forearm. Her hair was simply tied back in a classic ponytail, which oddly didn't detract from the regal aura she gave off.

Kisaka was talking with her, in Orb's dress uniform, and with Miriallia, dressed in a dark blue dress ending at her knees and a pair of matching elbow length satin gloves. It reminded the boy of a prom dress. There were many more people that Kira didn't recognize, from the other two ships in their own suits, tuxes or dress uniforms. The only person absent that he noticed right away was Flay.

Every time the door opened, Kira looked to see if it was Flay, and every time it wasn't her, he became a little more uncomfortable. Nearly fifteen minutes had passed and still no sign of her, Kira became more than a little apprehensive. Just where was she?

Once again, the doors opened to admit someone, and time seemed to slow for Kira. His heart beating extremely fast, he fixed his eyes upon the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Flay Alster.

* * *

First and Foremost: thanks to Hildebrant for helping me. To be able to find time with your busy schedule is no easy feat, and I thank you once again.

Secondly: SEED has finished its CN run, so now there are more of you out there who may actually empathize with certain pairings. Or not. Whatever.

Thirdy: there is no thirdly, but a typical essay usually has three main arguments. Go school.

But there will be a lastly: if this chapter seemed rushed to you, it could be true. I wanted to update once more before I moved. By the way, I'm moving. So the next update you'll get from me will be from a different place.

Until the next chapter.

Prayer


	7. Dreams of Curse, the Nightmare Reborn

Chapter 7: Dreams of Curse, the Nightmare Reborn

* * *

Every time the door opened, Kira looked to see if it was Flay, and every time it wasn't her, he became a little more uncomfortable. Nearly fifteen minutes had passed and still no sign of her, Kira became more than a little apprehensive. Just where was she?

Once again, the doors opened to admit someone, and time seemed to slow for Kira. His heart beating extremely fast, he fixed his eyes upon the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Flay Alster.

She was wearing a curve-hugging strapless red dress which matched her fancily styled hair, leaving her shoulders and neck bare, along with her arms. Everyone seemed to stare at her for a moment, causing the girl to raise a closed fist to her chest nervously.

Kira got over his initial shock as Mu appeared behind him and gave the boy a push towards her. Moving to her side, he gently pulled her hand down and faced her. "You look absolutely beautiful Flay." He complimented.

Flay blushed a little in response as he led her away from the door and towards the drink section. "You really like it?" she asked nervously.

He was a little perplexed, Flay had never been nervous about her appearance before. "Of course I do." He smiled and admired the view once again. The gown hid all but the tips of her toes and left a very small train behind.

The music started playing a soft and slow beat, perfect for dancing to. Several members from each crew moved onto the dance flow, and Kira and Flay joined them. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he mirrored the move on her waist.

"That's a nice suit you're wearing." Flay said softly.

"Thanks, I borrowed it from Mu." Kira paused to think for a second. "You know, I don't recall that dress being in our closet at anytime."

Flay smiled. "It's Lacus'."

Kira finally understood Flay's apparent demeanor change yesterday. "So that's where you were yesterday."

"I am allowed to keep some secrets from my boyfriend."

Kira smiled and pulled her in close. "Anything for you."

Flay lowered her head onto Kira's chest as they continued to dance, oblivious to everyone around them. They were happy.

The music changed after a few minutes from soft slow dance music to a faster paced rhythm, prompting Kira to send Flay into an unexpected swirl, causing her to gasp in surprise. The other dancing couples quickly adapted and began to dance to the new beat as well.

"Kira!" Flay exclaimed, not prepared for his sudden energetic swirling.

Instead of replying, he spun her again and then led her through some other moves which continued to astound the girl.

Mu and Murrue were leading several of the senior crewmembers through some moves as Flay and Kira danced in their own world, free from distraction. Out of the corner of his eyes, Kira saw Athrun and Cagalli dancing as well, while Miriallia and Dearka stood on opposite sides of the hall.

An idea entered Flay's mind, but she held it in check until this dance was over. This was the most social Kira had been since the Mendel Colony incident, and she didn't plan to ruin it anytime soon. But when it came to helping friends in need, Kira was usually the first to step up to the plate, and Flay was certain that this time would be no different.

When the song soon ended, Flay whispered in Kira's ear the plan she had suddenly thought up of, and an almost devilish smile greeted her in return. Looking around, they spotted Dearka talking with Lacus and Athrun now, but they noticed the tanned Coordinator kept stealing glances at various parts of the room.

Across the room still, Miriallia was talking with Sai, in a simple formal shirt and slacks. Apparently noticing Kira approaching, Sai excused himself and left the room, muttering something about fresh air. Smiling politely, Kira offered his hand to Mir. "May I have this dance?"

She offered a smile in return and took his hand and they walked onto the dance floor. "I haven't seen you much lately, how have you been?" he asked.

"I've been better, but things are definitely improving." She told him honestly, if a little sadly.

"I've been worried about you."

Mir giggled lightly. "You've been worried about me? We've all been worried about you, since this whole thing started."

Kira was a little embarrassed. "Thanks … I think." His eyes jumped around the room for a second, and then locked with Mir's again.

"What?" she asked plainly confused at her friend.

Kira spun Miriallia and an overhand twirl and for a second there were far too many hands touching hers. Coming out of the twirl, she faced Dearka as her dancing partner instead of Kira. Dearka had the same confused look, and beside them were Kira and Flay dancing together again as if nothing had happened.

"I think we've been had." Dearka stated.

They danced in silence for a moment before Miriallia spoke up nervously. "I've been thinking about what you said to me back in the mess hall … and thank you."

He was glad that she had thought about it afterwards, he was so sure that she had been mad at him since then. "The offer is still open."

The song ended, and Mir stood on her tiptoes to kiss Dearka lightly on the cheek before replying. "I know."

Dearka felt his mind turn to mush as Mir joined Lacus in some refreshments. Athrun tapped the dazed Coordinator on the shoulder to gain his attention. "Are you going to stand there for the rest of the night?"

His eyes remained glazed over for a second and then Dearka came back to reality with a large grin on his face. Looking at Athrun, he sighed happily. "Let's go grab a drink."

It wasn't quite the answer that Athrun expected, but then looking at Cagalli, he figured that the first signs of love could really mess a person up, and Dearka was no exception. He nodded at Dearka and they walked over to the drink table and were in the process of filling their glasses when Mu spoke up over the microphone.

"On behalf of all three ships, their captains and crew, I'd like to thank you all for attending this little celebration." Applause from everyone rang out.

"Now I realize this is a little late, but we'd also like to celebrate all of the birthdays we missed all through the year so far. Being at the end of August already, I think we've missed most of the crew."

Kisaka stepped up and Mu handed the mic over. "We'll start from January and continue from there. Dalida, 25. Lacus, 16. Miriallia, 16. Dearka, 17. Flay, 15. Kira and Cagalli, both 16. Arnold, 25. Andrew, 30."

Mu took the mic back. "We're sorry to have missed any celebrations, and happy birthday to you all. You'd better not miss mine." Laughter echoed as Mu smiled and then started another song.

"I'll be right back Kira." Flay said.

"Where are you going?" he asked densely.

She smiled. "Go dance with Lacus, I won't be long."

Kissing him lightly on the lips, she left through the same doors that Sai had used earlier, leaving Kira smiling as he walked over to Lacus, now alone after Cagalli went to talk with Kisaka.

"Hey Lacus." Kira greeted.

"Hi Kira. How are you?" she asked.

"I'm doing better thanks, how about you?"

For one second, Lacus' mask faltered. Then her smile came back twice as strong. "I'm well, thank you for asking."

Seconds of uncomfortable silence settled in. "You look nice tonight." He said, complimenting her dress.

"Thank you. The dress I lent Flay suits her quite well, and you both look quite happy."

"Shall we dance?"

* * *

The corridors of the _Archangel_ were dimly lit at this time of night, despite the festivities mere meters away. The lack of light not bothering her at all, Flay walked down the hallway, humming a soft tune as her mind wandered to thoughts about Kira.

"Well isn't this an odd sight." A voice said.

Startled, Flay looked around, but saw no one. "Flay Alster alone in a dark hallway, and Kira nowhere to be found." The voice continued.

Flay looked at the several darkened doorways and intersections. Finally, the owner stepped into the light. She rolled her eyes in disbelief as Sai came swaggering into the light.

"What do you want Sai?" she asked tiredly, noting the flask in his hand.

"That's not a very nice attitude to someone whom you were engaged too." Sai took another swing of the flask's contents. "Arranged marriage or not, I still cared for you as much as I could."

"Look Sai, we could have never been anything more than friends, so stop bringing it up." Flay said, trying to be patient with the none-too sober Sai Argyle.

Her words didn't mean a thing to him. "Everything he gives you, I could have given you. Everything he does for you, I could have done for you. That freak has nothing on me!" he threw the open flask at the wall behind her angrily, where it spilled the remaining contents on the wall and floor.

The smell of strong alcohol assaulted Flay's nose. "I love him Sai, and he loves me. Why can't you understand this?"

That was the last straw for Sai. "You tried to use him you stupid bitch! How can that be love?" before Flay knew what was happening, Sai had her pinned against the wall.

"I'm going to make you love me." He growled, his breath smelling strongly of alcohol.

Flay's eyes widened in fear as Sai roughly kissed her, forcing his tongue past her lips and keeping both of her arms pinned with only one of his own. His other hand was everywhere on her body, roaming and groping. Flay squirmed and tried to scream, but Sai kept her silent, keeping his tongue in her mouth.

A strong hand pulled Sai violently off of Flay and the other hand, clenched into a fist, came out of nowhere and hit Sai in the face, sending him into the opposite wall and sending his glasses flying.

"I warned you once in the desert to stay away from her." Kira deadpanned, stepping in front of Flay protectively. "But you seem to have forgotten your lesson. Stay away from her Sai."

Sai stood up slowly, using the wall for support. "She doesn't love you Kira. She told me that when we got to Alaska, when everyone thought you were still dead."

"Those were hard times, for everyone. She was just confused and sad, but that gives you no right to try and force yourself upon her!"

Sai charged forward again and Kira deftly put him in a painful arm lock and pushed him face first against the wall. "I won't warn you again. Stay away from her. If I find out you've touched her again, I'll kill you."

Kira released Sai and took Flay's hand. She was more than a little disturbed at all of this and held onto Kira tightly as he took her back to her room. The door opened and they wordlessly entered. Flay let go of Kira and entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

He heard water running so he sat on her bed. Taking off his jacket and tie, he also loosened his shirt collar and sleeves, and thought he heard crying from behind the bathroom door. Getting up, Kira was about to knock to see if Flay was alright when the door opened, showing Flay with her hair down and her face void of any makeup.

Thinking quickly, Kira enfolded her in a hug and she held on tight. Feeling her grip loosen after a few minutes, he picked her up and gently set her on the bed and covered her up. "Do you want me to get Mir or Lacus?" he asked with concern in his voice.

Flay looked at him with sad eyes. "Stay with me." She whispered.

"Of course."

* * *

Kira dodged more beams, dancing around them, trying to find an opening to go on the offensive. With all of the twists and turns he was doing, he passed by a shuttle and caught a glimpse of familiar red hair.

"_Kira!_" she cried out from the shuttle.

"Flay?" he asked, not sure why she was on a shuttle.

"_Not you again?_" a third voice interjected, sounding all-too familiar to Kira.

The large Gundam fired more and more beams at Kira, forcing the boy to forget about the shuttle temporarily. Kira armed and launched his missiles, only to watch as they were blown away by the numerous beam-firing bits.

"_You're nothing but an irritating pest!_" As he spoke, Rau fired his large caliber beam rifle and hit the right forward weapons pod on Kira's METEOR.

Ejecting it right before it exploded, he ignited the anti-warship sized beam saber and swiped at his enemy. Rau easily avoided the large weapon and activated his own saber, imbedded in the shield, and cut the other forward weapons pod in half.

Kira ejected the remains and retreated as the mobile beam weapons began another attack wave. Both pilots exchanged fire, with Kira taking more damage as Rau managed to destroy a small section of the METEOR's powerful engines and blowing off the right beam cannon.

Arming his remaining missiles, Kira fired them and watched helplessly as they were all shot down again. Appearing from nowhere, Rau sliced the right METEOR engine in half, rendering the state-of-the-art support unit useless. Catching sight of the shuttle once again, he saw Flay up against one of the cockpit view ports.

"Flay!" he yelled, separating the Freedom from the remains of the METEOR.

Moving at full speed, he closed the gap as Rau deliberately aimed at the defenseless shuttle. One shot left the beam rifle as Kira desperately closed the range. With milliseconds to spare, Kira blocked the shot and sat back as relief flooded his system. He had done it, he had saved Flay. Still in the window, Flay almost cried in joy as the Freedom floated mere meters away.

Kira's relieved smiled turned to shock as one of the beam bits appeared from above and fired a beam through the shuttle. He watched in horror as the superheated energy ignited the air and flash-fried the crew, Flay included.

"FLAY!" he screamed as the explosion engulfed him. The next thing he knew, he was in a blue-green void filled with yellow stars.

Some of the stars coalesced into Flay, naked. "How come? Flay, why you?"

"Thank you Kira, and I'm sorry."

"It's not fair, I tried my best, I tried ..."

"All of this time, I've been in pain, afraid and I never understood anything. I understand it all now Kira."

"Flay!"

She moved in and hugged him. "You don't have to cry anymore, I'll protect you, let my true feelings protect you."

Flay and the void disappeared and Kira found himself back in his cockpit, out of control. Snapping his eyes open, he regained control of the Freedoms engines and looked up with crystallized eyes at his target: Rau Le Creuset.

And then everything vanished as Kira bolted upright, clutching the covers as he breathed heavily. The dream was so vivid to Kira, and he looked to his left to see Flay sleeping peacefully. Brushing some of her bangs off of her face, Kira smiled and slid out of her bed, clad in his boxers.

He dressed himself in his shirt and slacks, rolling up the sleeves before silently leaving. Making his way to the mess hall, he entered and saw Dearka sitting in the middle, both of his hands around a cup of coffee.

Nodding to Dearka as he looked up, Kira fetched a cup for him and filled it with coffee and then sat down across from Dearka. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

"Not a wink. Same with you?" Dearka replied.

"Pretty much." He took a sip. "So how was the rest of the dance?"

"It went well. Most of the crews are on their own ships now, and they all seemed a lot happier than before. I'd say our captains know how to throw a party."

"You don't seem too happy." Kira noted.

Dearka paused for a moment, looking glum. "I should be, and I want to thank you and Flay for what you both did for me back there. But Miriallia didn't seem too happy either at the end, and I don't know why."

"Well, try talking to her instead of sitting here alone with coffee." Kira suggested, taking another sip.

Dearka laughed. "You and Flay are a lot alike." Finishing his coffee, he stood up. "Thanks man, I needed that. Catch you later."

Kira stared into his own cup as Dearka left, taking sips every few minutes. So entranced in his thoughts, he didn't notice Flay enter the mess hall, clad in a large blue bathrobe, obviously Kira's.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked, making him jump in surprise.

He shook his head and drank some more coffee. "Want to talk about it?" she asked, holding his left hand in both of hers.

"They're only dreams." He said. "They don't mean anything."

Flay was unsatisfied with her boyfriend's answer. "You've had nightmares every night since we left the Mendel Colony."

Kira didn't know he had been waking her up with his screaming, and he looked at her apologetically. "None of them make any sense. It's just so confusing."

"I've never put too much stock into dreams, good or bad, and you shouldn't either."

"I know, and as real as they seem, I've always woken up to see you, and that brings me peace." Kira finished the rest of his coffee and took Flay back to her room.

* * *

A flurry of alarms was activated on Miriallia's computer console. She hurried to pinpoint their sources, and feverishly wished she hadn't. "Captain Ramius? Our long range probes have picked something up."

"What did they find?" Murrue asked, turning to face her sensor officer.

"You'd better see this for yourself."

That got Murrue worried, she had never known Miriallia to look so worried and anxious at the same time. Getting up from her seat, she floated over to Mir's screen and read the information on it. Apprehension filled her face as she spoke. "Get me the _Eternal_ and the _Kusanagi_."

* * *

"What? The Earth Alliance fleets are mobilizing?" Kira repeated aloud.

"_One of our long range probes we sent out picked it up. When we got the information, it was already four hours old, by now anything could have happened._" Cagalli explained from the other line.

"What do Lacus and Kisaka have to say about this?" Athrun asked, standing right beside Kira.

"_They're both talking to Captain Ramius about it. But if the Earth forces have mobilized, then they must be finished with their Earth-side mop-up battles._"

"They're going for Boaz, that's the only answer." Athrun stated.

"_Boaz?_" Cagalli echoed.

"Makes enough sense, after Boaz, both the PLANTs and Jachin Due are vulnerable." Kira agreed.

An announcement from Lacus came over the ship's intercom system. "_All ships, prepare to move out, all crews stand by. Repeat, all ships prepare to move out._"

"I need to talk to Lacus." Kira said. Cagalli nodded and the viewscreen went dead.

Exiting the lift onto the bridge, Kira spoke up. "Lacus, have they started their attack on Boaz yet?"

"It's gone beyond that now. The Earth forces have sunk to the worst possible low." She replied.

Kira looked at Andy for clarification. "Our sources tell us that Boaz has already fallen. It was destroyed by a nuclear attack."

The engines on all three ships started up, and they set a course for the new battle zone. "You'd better man your suits." Andy said.

As the two pilots left the bridge, Murrue activated a line to the _Eternal_. "_I still can't believe they'd use nuclear weapons again._"

"_It's not that surprising, look at JOSH-A. Besides, the Earth Alliance has been trying to come up with a way to negate the N-Jammer since they were dropped. It's all because of that bastard, Rau Le Creuset._" Mu said, standing beside Murrue in the captain's chair.

"We have to stop them all. We can't let even one blade of light fall upon those who are innocent; otherwise there will be no end to the tears and conflict." Lacus said.

The link terminated as the ships neared their launching point. "I'm worried. We may be too late to stop them." Lacus spoke.

"_Kira Yamato! Freedom, let's do it!_" the confidence in Kira's voice as he launched gave Lacus some hope.

"_Athrun Zala, Justice launching!_"

"_Mu La Flaga, 105 Dagger, taking off!_"

"_Dearka Elsman, Buster taking off._"

"_Flay Alster, Strike, moving out!_"

"METEORs, lift off!" Andrew ordered.

The support units designed for the Freedom and the Justice separated from the hull of the _Eternal_ and allowed both mobile suits to dock with them. All of the systems started up and sped their pilots off the area where both ZAFT and the Earth forces were already engaged.

The rest of the attack force followed as best they could, but were losing ground rapidly thanks to the powerful engines mounted on the METEOR systems. Behind them, the three ships followed, escorted by the M1 Corps, led by veteran Barry Ho.

They had joined the fight at last.

* * *

A/N: Well, with this update, my internect connection is still offline, but I used other resources to get this update up. Thanks to all who have reviewed so far, and I encourage you all to continue. When I do get my connection up, I'll have to play catch up everywhere .. oi oi.

Now I know, next time I move, I'm going to get my connection up first, and then move. Truly sound advice.

Prayer


	8. The Day of Wrath and the Final Light

Chapter 8: The Day of Wrath and the Final Light

* * *

The airwaves were alive with orders and screams from both sides. Chaos truly reigned today. 

"_Stay with me Kale!_"

"_Two GINNs coming in from high above!_"

"_EXTERMINATE!_"

"_Pull back and defend the _Petrovalosk"

"_They've breached at green alpha 7!_"

"_Aleong squad requesting backup immediately!_"

"_Sikorsky squad launching!_"

"_Don't let any of those missiles touch the PLANTs!_"

The last voice Athrun knew very well. Yzak was out there somewhere. Kira pinpointed where the nuclear missiles were and relayed the information to Athrun. "_Let's do it!_"

Two GINNs and two GuAIZ units started their attack runs against the nuke carrying Moebius armors, only to be stopped by the three escorting Gundams. The targeting computers onboard the Justice and the Freedom popped up and began to acquire targets.

Locked onto half of the missiles, Kira armed and fired all of the weapons at his disposal, the beams lancing out and destroying the missiles in a blinding light show. Athrun mimicked his friend's move and wiped out the remaining missiles as the other suits and the three ships finally caught up.

"_I demand that the Earth Forces stop their attacks at once! Do you even know what you are attacking? Cease your attacks immediately!_" Lacus pleaded over an open channel.

Apparently not listening, several more nukes were fired at the PLANTs. Before Kira and Athrun could turn their attention to the new threats, the rest of the pilots stepped up to the plate. Dearka's hyper impulse beam tore through three of the armors before striking a cluster of nukes.

Yzak fired his missiles, railgun and beam rifle all at once, taking out another cluster. Mu, and Flay took out the remaining missiles, saving the PLANTs once again. An urgent beeping alerted Yzak to an incoming coded message from Jachin Due. His eyes widened with shock as he read the message.

"_Justice! Freedom! Get out here! GENESIS is about to fire!_" he warned.

Behind the large asteroid fortress known as Jachin Due, the enormous GENESIS array uncloaked and activated its Phase Shift feature. As the Natural force wondered what it was, Patrick Zala gave the order to fire.

Bouncing off of the mirror block, the gamma rays hit the main section where secondary mirrors focused the energy into a coherent laser beam, which tore through the heart of the Earth Alliance fleet, inflicting massive damage upon any ship it passed, and destroying many more.

After several long minutes, the beam finally faded, leaving the Earth Alliance wallowing in confusion as the survivors attempted to figure out just who was still alive. Even the ZAFT forces were left in shock, having witnessed the power of the GENESIS cannon.

Forming into a semi-organized fleet, the Earth forces began a general retreat to the lunar base. Now empowered and encouraged by their victory, the ZAFT forces pressed forward to beleaguer the retreating Naturals.

"_Captain Ramius, we'll have to pull back as well. Recall our mobile suit forces._" Captain Bartfelt advised.

Kira couldn't stand watching the slaughter that was now going on. He separated the Freedom from the METEOR and armed his rifle. "Stop it! Don't attack those who aren't fighting back!" he yelled.

Athrun followed suit, but stayed attached to the METEOR, using the beam weapons to disable GINNs, CGUEs and GuAIZ alongside Kira.

"_Freedom! Justice! Get back here now!_" Andrew reprimanded.

Both pilots heeded their orders and returned to the Eternal, shocked along with the rest of the crews at how callous both sides were. With all of their suits secured inside their respective hangars, the three ships took off to find some cover and try to explain what had just happened.

The explanation was ready before a suitable hiding place was found thanks to Erica Simmons' tireless work. Barely an hour later, the _Kusanagi_ had spotted a suitable area to stop and conduct repairs. The senior crew of all three ships met on the _Kusanagi's_ bridge, all of them semi-eager to hear how the GENESIS had ripped through the Earth Alliance.

"It's basically a gamma ray laser. A nuclear cartridge is detonated and the resulting radiation bounces off of a mirror which then bounces off of an even bigger one which concentrates the rays into what we saw. Perhaps the only weakness is its inability to fire successively." Erica explained.

"What do you mean 'only weakness'?" Cagalli asked.

"The array was cloaked with a Mirage Colloid similar to the GAT-X207 Blitz's and it has the phase shift feature, along with the might of the Jachin Due defense force." She replied.

"Is there no way to stop that monstrosity?" Flay asked quietly.

"We won't know until we try." Athrun growled.

"I can tell you right now that the Earth Alliance will attack the PLANTs again." Mu said.

"We have to stop them, both ZAFT and the Earth Forces." Lacus declared.

"There's another thing: if the GENESIS beam was fired at the Earth, the resulting gamma radiation would sear the surface to a crisp and virtually destroy the atmosphere, leaving the planet uninhabitable." Erica added.

"Do you really think they'll fire that thing again?" Murrue asked.

"The purpose of any long-range weapon is self-defense." Andy said. "You know, when I first shot someone, it turned my stomach. They told me that I would get used to it, and over time I did."

"Are you saying that firing a gun is the same as launching nukes or using the GENESIS?" Dearka demanded.

"It's exactly the same." Andy confirmed.

"Look, it'll be at least a day before the Earth Alliance fleets move out again, and that's before they receive reinforcements from the Ptolemaeus crater. I suggest we all take the opportunity to rest a little before we fight again." Kisaka suggested, seeing where this conversation could go.

"I agree, it would be unwise to waste this time." Murrue said.

"Then I suggest we reconvene in 36 hours time, sooner if both sides go at it again." Andrew dismissed them.

Flay latched onto Kira's arm as the entered the lift. "So where are you going to be staying on our time off?" she asked.

"On the _Eternal_. I've got make sure that the Freedom and my METEOR are fully operational." Kira replied.

"They've got technicians for that, why don't you stay with me on the _Archangel_?" Flay suggested.

"I'd love to, but I need to do some of it myself with the OS mods I've done." Kira felt a little bad at having to turn down her offer, but it was true, he modified the OS to fit his exact needs.

Flay gave her boyfriend a pleading look. "Please Kira, stay with me?"

He regarded her for a moment. "It's Sai isn't it? You're scared of what he might try to do if I'm not there."

The faint nod she did confirmed his statements. An idea struck him. "Why don't you get the Strike and stay with me on the _Eternal_?"

She smiled, it was so simple. "Wait, but what about Athrun? There's not a lot of room in your hangar you know."

"Athrun and the Justice are staying here on the _Kusanagi_, and Mu and Dearka are staying on the Archangel. It'll just be me," he pointed to himself, "and you." And then he pulled her in close.

"Hold that thought flyboy." She said putting a finger on his lips.

He was about to ask why when the lift came to a stop and the doors opened onto a very busy and crowded flight deck. The Strike, Buster, 105 Dagger, Freedom and Justice were against the back wall as much as possible to allow room for the shuttles from the Archangel and Eternal.

Had things been planned a little better, the suits and shuttles would have been staggered so there would be an escort at all times. Neither ship was far apart, but it made little sense to take any chances this stage of the fight. Kira and Flay watched from the Pilot's Waiting Room as the shuttle for the _Eternal_ containing Andrew, Lacus and DaCosta took off, leaving the shuttle for the Archangel next in line.

Murrue, Arnold and Miriallia boarded that shuttle as Mu and Dearka sealed and powered up their Gundams. All three were granted clearance to leave and they did. Still wearing their flight suits, Kira and Flay were last in line, with Athrun still staying on the _Kusanagi_.

The hangar was a lot more spacious with only a handful of M1 Astrays and the Justice, Kira noted as he and Flay floated out of the bay. Their trip to the _Eternal_ was uneventful, and so was their shutdown procedure. Kira had an idea of what Flay wanted to do during their time off, but no specifics.

Emerging from the changing rooms, Flay embraced Kira tightly and refused to let go for several minutes. Kira hugged her back and comforted her. The day had been a tiring and stressful one, dealing with both the repeated nuclear attacks from the Earth Forces, and the powerful GENESIS ray from ZAFT.

"So what did you have in mind for our time off?" Kira asked her.

"I can think of a few things, but let's play this by ear right now." Flay smirked at him. Her expression melted as Kira kissed her full on the lips.

Parting lips after a few moments, Flay spoke quietly "I thought you wanted to work on the Freedom."

"Freedom can wait, you come first." He said kissing her again. A few crewmembers passed them by; paying little attention to the kissing couple, and neither one of them noticed or particularly cared.They somehow made it to his room, and Flay managed to push Kira onto his bed before kissing him softly. And then time had no meaning for them.

* * *

"Did you ever think that the war would progress to this level?" Cagalli asked Athrun as they floated near a viewport.

Athrun regarded Kira's twin sister for a second before responding. "I never even thought the war would start, and even when it did, I believed that every thing would be fine."

"Even with your father leading the PLANTs at the time?"

"My father ... has changed a lot. I believe that Former Chairman Clyne was doing a better job at trying to end the war peacefully than my father will ever achieve. We took up arms in the name of self-defense, but now that has changed." Athrun told her.

"Do … do you think that the war will end? Without resorting to genocide, I mean."

"We have to make it end, if it drags on then nobody will survive."

The watched the stars for a long time in silence.

* * *

Miriallia stretched her arms as the lift doors opened, feeling some of the tension drain out of her shoulders. Looking up, she saw Dearka leaning against the wall. He smiled at her. "Hey, want to grab a cup of coffee?" he asked.

"Sure." She agreed. After all, why not? With Kira and Flay over on the _Eternal_, and Sai acting very strange towards almost everyone since the night of the dance, it seemed that Dearka was the only stable one left on the ship.

Grabbing two steaming cups of coffee from the dispenser, Dearka set one in front of Mir and then sat down beside her. "So how has your day been so far?"

"Bordering on terrible. I expected to see both sides start another engagement all day, and even now, I'm worried." She explained.

"When the fighting starts again, I promise I'll do everything I can to protect you." Dearka stated.

Mir started to laugh, confusing Dearka. "What? Why are you laughing? It's true you know; I'd do anything for you." He repeated.

Her laughter toned down a lot, but didn't disappear. "I'm sorry; it's just a little odd to hear such serious words coming from you. It's not new to me, but it's still different." She said while trying to massage her neck.

Dearka gently moved her hands away and started to massage her neck himself. "That feels nice." She murmured. He continued and moved to her shoulders as well.

"Hey Elsman!"

"What!" Dearka demanded as he looked at Mu standing in the door way.

"I need your help in the hangar." Mu smiled.

"Now?" he groaned.

"Yes now, now move!" Mu ordered.

Dearka shook his head irritably then stood up and smiled apologetically to Miriallia. "Sorry, I guess duty calls."

* * *

_"FLAY!"_ Kira woke up again, the same nightmare having reoccurred. He was breathing heavily and sweating, but he was certain he didn't scream this time. Rolling his head to his left, he saw Flay once more sleeping peacefully.

"This has to stop." He muttered to himself. But who could help? The answer struck him, it was very obvious and it was a chance to kill two birds with one stone. If anyone could help, it would be Captain Bartfelt.

If there was a competition to get dressed and make it to the bridge of the _Eternal_, then Kira probably would have won it. The bridge was deserted except for Andrew and a few of Lacus' Haros floating around.

"Captain Bartfelt?"

"What is it Youngster?" his tone was inviting.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go right ahead."

Kira paused for a second, remembering the horrors his nightmares brought him. "I've been having these … dreams, well more like nightmares … and … Flay … she …" he couldn't finish his sentence.

"You're afraid to lose her." Kira nodded. "I'm no doctor or therapist, but as a soldier and a commander, I know these things happen frequently. The pain of loss is powerful Kira, believe me. You must learn to face your fears."

"There's another thing … and I think this one is more dangerous." Kira explained the enemy Gundam that he believed Rau Le Creuset was piloting in his dreams. He went in to great detail the weapons system the Gundam apparently used.

Andrew sat back in his seat, his light smile replaced with a frown. "Have you ever heard of anything like that?" Kira asked.

"Heard of ? No. Something like that would be top secret, very hush-hush, like the Freedom and the Justice were. But seen? Unfortunately, yes. If you're describing the same one I'm thinking of, then we could be in very big trouble."

"You've seen it?" Kira was shocked.

"Not in action, or in person, but I've seen the schematics for a few prototypes before the Clyne Faction's exodus. It was codenamed the Providence, and I thought it would be impossible to build. I could be wrong."

Now Kira wasn't so sure this talk was such a good idea.

* * *

"_The Earth Forces vessels have begun their assault!_" Miriallia announced.

"_All vessels prepare to move out, all pilots to their ships._" Kisaka ordered.

Kira watched as the Strike left for the _Archangel_, and then went to change into his pilot's suit. "This is it." He told himself. "We have to make this the final battle. I won't let anymore of my friends die!"

On the _Kusanagi_, Athrun was floating down the corridor with Cagalli. She stared at him for second before turning away when he noticed. "What?" he asked.

"Oh nothing. I'll be out there as well, we had all the parts for the Strike Rouge in storage and it's just been assembled. Well, see you!" she said as they came to a t-intersection.

"Wait a minute, Cagalli!" Athrun called out, grabbing her hand. "You're going out there, in the Strike Rouge?" he questioned.

"What's the problem? I've had more than enough mobile suit training, and I'm much better than those Astray pilots."

"Yeah, but … I mean …"

"What we want to do, what we can do, what we must do, it's the same for everyone. For you, for Kira, for Lacus, Dearka, Mu and even Flay. It seems pointless sometimes to go out and fight but with everything that's going on now, we must. Besides, you take a lot more chances out there than I ever would."

Athrun was stunned, but not all that surprised. "I'm not going to let you die Athrun, no way. And I'll be watching over that guy who could be my little brother."

"Little brother? Wouldn't he be your big brother?"

"Not a chance! He's definitely the younger one."

"I guess you're right." Athrun pulled her into a hug. "I'm pretty lucky to have met you."

"Athrun?"

"You and I, we can protect each other." Athrun said right before kissing her with the Earth as their backdrop.

Dearka sat in the Buster, his face showing up on Mir's monitor. "_So they want us to stop both GENESIS and the nukes at the same time while fighting?_"

"Then just give up." Mir said, terminating the connection.

After a second, she reestablished the link. "Just kidding, I'm sorry." She said with no mirth in her voice. "Be careful out there." She turned her head.

"_Thank you._" He said graciously.

"Captain, all mobile suits onboard the _Archangel_ are ready to launch." Mir reported.

"_The _Kusanagi's _suits are ready to fly._" Kisaka reported.

"_There must be a separate group carrying the nukes. Find them!_"

"Vessel detected at Orange 25, Mark 12 Alpha. It's the _Dominion_!"

"_Please have all vessels launch their mobile suits._" Lacus ordered.

"_All ships deploy your mobile suits!_" Andrew repeated.

"_Mu La Flaga, 105 Dagger taking off!_"

"_Dearka Elsman, Buster taking off!_"

"_Flay Alster, Aile Strike launching!_"

"_Strike Rouge, LET'S GO!_"

"_Athrun Zala, Justice, launching!_"

"_Kira Yamato, Freedom let's do it!_"

"_METEORs lift off!_"

"_Energy surge detected from the GENESIS array, it's going to fire._" Erica reported.

"_Prepare for evasive maneuvers._" Kisaka ordered calmly.

"_Its firing!_" the GENESIS cannon fired again.

The destructive beam punched though the reinforcements from the lunar base and then smashed into the Ptolemaeus base itself, killing everyone horribly as the base exploded, a giant mushroom cloud of lunar dust forming, marking the base like a gravestone.

"_Not again._" Kira whispered.

"_This is our window of opportunity! GENESIS can't fire again for at least an hour! Mobile suits go!_" Andrew ordered.

"_The Alliance won't take this sitting down. Head for the PLANTs, we'll take out the nukes first, then GENESIS._" Athrun ordered, taking command for now.

"_Mu, Flay, Dearka, keep them off our backs!_" Kira said.

Athrun was right. Escorting the Peacemaker force were the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider currently in combat with Yzak in the Duel Gundam and the remains of the Jule Squad. "_Missiles have launched! Kira, let's go!_"

"_How can you fire those things with no remorse!_" Kira entered SEED mode and fired a full spread, wiping out half of the missiles in one go.

Athrun entered his own SEED mode and finished off the salvo, destroying the rest of the nukes as Yzak tried to track the agile Raider. He was hit from behind and Crot charged his Zorn mouth cannon, only to have Dearka blast him from behind.

"_Dearka …_"

Several more nuclear missiles were launched and the Forbidden came roaring in, forcing Athrun on the defensive as he ignited his beam sabers. "_You! You won't stop them!_" Shani growled.

"_Oh no!_" Athrun yelled.

Cagalli stepped up. "_They're mine!_" she fired and managed to destroy them.

Athrun fended off the Forbidden and then moved to help Kira against the Raider. His com unit came alive as the pilot spoke. "_What's the deal with you two anyways? Why are you fighting so desperately?_" he demanded.

"_I could ask you the same thing! What do you think you're fighting for?_"

"_It's kill or be killed, and I won't die!_"

"_What?_"

"_Not that you could kill me!_"

Cagalli dealt with a few straggling mobile armors and before she could try to help Athrun against the Raider, the Forbidden fired its arcing induction cannon, the plasma beam aimed right at her. And in a move that surprised them all, Yzak intercepted and blocked the beam, firing twice at the Forbidden.

Dearka armed and fired his anti-armor shotgun, blinding Shani for a second. Yzak holstered his beam rifle and drew a beam saber and charged. Reacting faster than he thought possible, Shani fired his plasma cannon again and watched as an explosion engulfed the Duel.

Emerging from the explosion and screaming in rage was Yzak with both beam sabers drawn. He sliced off the Forbidden's arms and then stabbed the other saber into the cockpit, killing Shani instantly before the suit exploded.

"_Shani!_" Orga cried out.

Momentarily distracted by his comrade's death, Orga barely avoided Kira's giant beam saber by backing up. Unfortunately, he ran into Athrun's saber which sliced him in half. "_Let's go support the _Archangel"

And out in space, rapidly taking out ZAFT mobile suits was Mu La Flaga. He felt the familiar feeling of an electric jolt run through his body, and he knew that Rau Le Creuset was nearby.

Neither of them was quite sure who found whom first, but to an outside viewer, the fight between them was one of the weirdest anyone had ever seen. Mu's four gunbarrels were deployed and moving around and firing, the same with Rau's eleven funnels. Both mobile suits were firing at each other as each pilot evaded all of the shots being fired.

Unfortunately, even though Mu had greater control over his gunbarrels compared to Rau and his funnels, Rau still managed to destroy all four gunbarrels due to the sheer firepower at his disposal. Mu felt the familiar jolt run through his body and raised the 105's shield in time to block a shot from Rau's judicium beam rifle.

"_Is this what you want you demented bastard!_" Mu yelled.

"_This is mankind's dream, their future! To envy, to hate, to fight! I will end it all!_" Rau yelled back.

A shot from a funnel hit Mu's rifle so he discarded it and activated a beam saber in its place. Both pilots clashed sabers as they continued to argue and fight. "_And what the hell gives you the right to kill everyone!_" Mu demanded

"_Humans know only what they have experienced, and I am the product of all this! That alone gives me the right to decide!_" Rau deployed his funnels again, trapping the 105 Dagger in a cone of fire and destroying the arm holding the beam saber and the leg on the same side.

Mu gunned his verniers and managed to escape his enemy, plotting a course for the _Archangel_. His Moebius Zero was still in storage onboard, and there was a chance, however slim that he could continue to fight.

Rau was unable to pursue Mu for a brief moment thanks to an attacking squad of Strike Daggers. But he knew the only place Mu would return to, the legged ship. "_I will find you again Mu La Flaga._"

The clash between the _Archangel_ and the _Dominion_ was nearly over by the time Mu came within transmission range. The _Archangel_ was missing a Gottfried turret and had sustained damage all over, and it was nearly a mirror image on the _Dominion_, similarly missing a Gottfried turret but also a Lohengrin cannon.

Receiving clearance to land his damaged unit, the _Archangel_ opened the portside hangar bay and ceased firing for just a moment. Mu had seen lifeboats emerge from the dark grey sister ship of the _Archangel_, and wondered what they were doing. His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when whoever was still on the Earth Alliance battleship readied the other Lohengrin Positron Blaster Cannon.

The _Archangel_ moved to evade as the destructive beam of anti-matter, but they wouldn't clear it in time, and it looked as though the ship would be hit along the starboard engines. At least it looked like that until Mu acted.

Using the shield to block the Lohengrin, Mu could feel the particles of his mobile suit disappearing into nothing as the beam ate through his shield. "_I told you I could make the impossible … POSSIBLE!_" it was his one last victory, for the woman he loved.

The 105 Dagger disappeared under the intensity of the Lohengrin beam, and the _Archangel_ avoided the rest of the attack thanks to Mu's selfless sacrifice. "_MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!_" Murrue cried out, not wanting to believe Mu had died.

And in a manner that spoke of revenge, the _Archangel_ armed and charged its own Lohengrin, firing the positron cannon right through the ship, causing the reactor onboard the _Dominion_ to redline and go critical, taking the rest of the ship with it.

The _Dominion_ and the nuclear attacks had been stopped. Kira, Athrun and Cagalli were on their way to back-up and aid the _Eternal _and _Kusanagi_ with destroying the GENESIS array. Yzak, Dearka and Flay patrolled around the _Archangel_ as battlefield repairs commenced.

Everyone hoped this would be the last chapter in the war. They were all fast approaching the Never Ending Tomorrow, the Endless Future.

* * *

A/N: Well, I managed to update. For some reason I didn't enjoy writing this chapter all that much, and I attribute that lack of feeling to preparation of V90. One more chapter in True Feelings to go!

Prayer


	9. Owaranai Asu E

Chapter 9: Owaranai Asu E

* * *

Nowhere. That was the one word that Andrew Bartfelt of the _Eternal_ would have used to describe the progress they were making. Nowhere. Everyone fought, and very few survived. It was nothing but chaos, soldiers didn't even know if their orders stood anymore. His one good eye narrowed as Lacus continued to plead for peace. She certainly wasn't helping much.

"_I demand that the ZAFT forces cease firing GENESIS immediately! We've all experienced the horrors of a nuclear attack, and yet we attack in revenge. Will this sort of twisted logic bring about peace?_"

Kira, Athrun and Cagalli flew towards the massive asteroid fortress of Jachin Due and the giant GENESIS array when Kira felt something. The feeling tugged his vision back towards the _Archangel_ and whispered of danger. Heeding this feeling, Kira broke formation and swung about, heading back to the _Archangel_.

"_Kira!_" Cagalli said.

"Look after Cagalli." Kira spoke quietly. "Something's wrong."

"_Understood._" Athrun replied.

Kira was not the only one to approach the _Archangel_, beating him there was Rau Le Creuset in the Providence, and lagging behind was Crot Buer in the Raider. Standing guard over the damaged battleship were Yzak, Dearka and Flay.

"_Incoming mobile suit!_" Miriallia warned.

"_Is that a friendly unit? I've never seen that kind of frame!_" Yzak cursed.

Dearka armed his hyper-impulse rifle and aimed it at the grey suit rapidly approaching. "_Shit! Of all the times …_" and he fired.

The Providence nimbly avoided the powerful beam and 8 of the funnels detached and began their attack runs. "_What the!_" Dearka cursed as he launched his missiles in defense. The beam bits fired, rapidly shooting down the missiles, and then concentrated on the Buster, destroying the head and the right arm.

"_Dearka!_"

Kira fired at Rau from behind, breaking his concentration for just a moment. Rau dodged the twin plasma beams and felt something familiar about his new target. "_Not you again._"

The funnels fell into a predictable firing pattern, which Kira used to his advantage. There was a brief opening and he armed and fired the missiles on his METEOR. The attack pattern changed and the funnels aimed at the incoming missiles, shooting many of them down. Rau used his beam saber to sweep through the survivors and fired a well-aimed shot at Kira's forward METEOR weapons pod.

Kira ejected the useless pod and armed his anti-warship beam saber. With the grace of a dance, Rau avoided the attack and used his own saber to slice the remaining pod in half. Using the powerful engines, Kira darted back to range.

"There's too many here! Flay! Go support Athrun and Cagalli!" Kira ordered, choosing his maneuvers carefully.

"_But what about helping you Kira?_" Murrue asked.

"Not in this condition."

"_You are something that should never have been allowed to live boy!_"

"Shut up!" Kira fired another salvo of missiles, annoyed at the funnels which again intercepted the warheads.

"_If people discovered what you are, then they would want to be just like you._" Rau fired and hit the empty missile pod on the METEOR's starboard side.

Kira fired back, arming his Hi-MAT and missed. "I didn't ask to be born this way! I am not defined by my abilities alone!"

"_And who's going to believe that line?_" Rau demanded, closing the distance and slicing the port-side METEOR engine in half.

Stunned at his defeat, Kira sat for a moment. It had been months since he had been this solidly defeated. Suddenly aware of the danger, Kira was about to separate from the heavily damaged METEOR when the funnels came swooping in and fired.

A powerful explosion ripped through space. Rau smiled, having completed part of his agenda. His funnels returned and he plotted a course for the _Eternal_. Unfazed by the explosion, the Raider charged in, aiming for the Duel and the remains of the Buster.

"_I will … I will!_" Crot shouted out.

Crot relentlessly fired his shield-mounted hyper velocity rifle, spraying rounds everywhere. Before Yzak could aim his beam rifle, it was hit and very quickly riddled with bullets, rendering it useless.

"_Damnit! Give me that beam cannon!_" Yzak ordered.

"_Yzak!_" Dearka warned.

"_HE'S NOT BEATING ME!_" Yzak fired the still-combined hyper impulse sniper rifle, hitting the Raider directly in the cockpit. The Zorn cannon that was charging was prematurely fired and hit the Duel in the shoulder armor, leaving the joint intact. The combined damaged Yzak sustained and the energy that the rifle used drained his batteries, forcing the phase shift down.

"_The Raider has been destroyed, the Providence has moved off, but I can't find the Freeedom anywhere!_" Miriallia reported.

"_Damage reports coming in Captain. Sensors are only 33 operational; engine thrust is down to half. The Buster and the Duel are docking now._" Sai reported.

Even if their sensors had been fully operational, they still wouldn't have detected Kira; his exit was masked by the destruction of the Raider. In that very short amount of time, Kira had come to only one conclusion on how to stop the war.

It was, in retrospect, probably a mistake to think that way, but you act in the heat of the moment; you follow what your heart tells you. In that moment, Kira knew of only one thing, one goal: to kill Rau Le Creuset.

As his mind steeled itself for this task, his body followed suit. Emerging from the explosion unharmed, Kira looked up towards Jachin Due, where his target was. His eyes were cold and lifeless because they showed his altered state of SEED mode. Indeed, Kira didn't even look at his sensors, or use any of his instruments as he sped off to end the war.

And he wasn't the only one with hardened conclusions. Athrun separated the Justice from his own METEOR. "_We have no choice. We'll force our way into Jachin Due and destroy the control room. Let's go._"

Having already heard the report of Kira's apparent demise, Lacus didn't want anyone else dear to her to die. "_Athrun! Cagalli!_"

"_Don't worry, we'll be fine._" Cagalli tried to reassure her.

What Athrun and Cagalli planned on doing very quickly became the least of Lacus' worries. "_Incoming mobile suit! Blue 25 Delta!_"

"_I've always like your songs._" Rau whispered as he closed in with the Providence.

"_That's …_" Lacus feared.

"_But the world is not as gentle as those in pop songs!_" Rau's funnels deployed and opened fire, damaging the _Eternal_ and the_ Kusanagi_ as well as obliterating three of their M1 Astray escorts. Rau's next target was the ship of the songstress, when he was interrupted with the feeling of an electric jolt. He dodged two shots from behind and faced his enemy.

"_Another mobile suit incoming!_"

"_You, and only you!_" Kira roared.

"_It's the Freedom!_"

The Freedom and the Providence circled each other, firing as they went. As the opportunities arose, Kira fired and managed to destroy a few of the funnels, slowly reducing the number of threats around him. As they fought, the two pilots slowly moved away from the two ships and towards the GENESIS array.

"_Why won't you die!_" Kira demanded just as Rau shot off one of Freedom's legs at the kneecap.

He charged forward, blocking another beam that tore the shield off its mount. Acting quickly, Kira armed a beam saber and clashed with Rau. "_You're crazy, and so is your logic!_"

"_Of course! But how is that wrong? People know only what they've experienced!_" Rau retorted.

Memories of conversations past returned to Kira.

_"So, you're a Coordinator?"_

_"What are you doing with the Earth forces?"_

_"You used to tell me that you hated the whole idea of war."_

_"But you did betray your own people didn't you?"_

_"Is her voice a result of genetic engineering?"_

_"You didn't make any serious effort to fight because you're a Coordinator too!"_

"_Shut up …_" Kira whispered, "_just SHUT UP!_" and their duel continued once more. Fighting with even more rage than before, Kira nimbly avoided the multi-directional attacks from Rau and his DRAGOON funnels. Destroying one more, he shifted part of his attention back to the sound of Rau's voice.

Laughing maniacally, Rau spoke. "_No matter what happens now I've won! When Jachin self destructs, GENESIS will fire!_"

Clashing sabers forcefully, Rau continued triumphantly. "_There's nothing you can do to stop it, the Earth will burn! And when the cries of the victims are heard, the fires of war will rage anew!_"

"_This can't be …_" Kira was shocked at the finality of Rau's plans.

Dodging multiple beams, Kira missed noticing the Justice and Strike Rouge flying towards GENESIS. He took more damage, losing a shoulder-mounted direction thruster and scoring a very minor hit on Rau's beam saber shield combo.

"_You helped bring this about boy!_" Rau fired again, taking the Freedom's right arm at the elbow, along with his beam rifle.

"_So what?_" Kira demanded while connecting both beam sabers and activating them. It was his race against time, he had to kill Rau and destroy the GENESIS before it fired, and at this rate, Rau would win.

Unprepared for the brutality of Kira's charge, Rau started his evasion a second too late and lost the Providence's right arm and beam rifle as a result. The masked man pulled back to the relative safety of the GENESIS array, hiding near the mirror block as his funnels savagely attacked Kira.

His plasma cannons couldn't cycle fast enough to attack the fast moving bits, and he was nearly out of ammunition in his railcannons. "_There's only one way to end this …_" Kira told himself. Steeling himself, he raised his dual beam sabers and charged for what he hoped would be the last time.

Anticipating a headstrong attack, Rau silently commanded his funnels. Despite prior knowledge, the DRAGOON bits were a second too slow, and rather than destroying the Freedom outright, they instead destroyed both ends of Kira's connected beam sabers. Not wasting a moment, Kira engaged his Hi-MAT mode and fired.

The railcannons fizzled, having no more ammunition to fire. The slower plasma cannons charged and fired, only to be avoided by both Rau and his few remaining DRAGOON bits. Folding his railcannons back in, Kira chased Rau, firing his Balaena's as soon as the cycle was complete.

Rau turned and bolted towards Kira, his beam saber now active. He dodged the few plasma shots sent his way and slashed at the Freedom. Kira retracted his cannons and jetted backwards to avoid the attack. Smiling, Rau had Kira trapped, his remaining weapons undeployed and the boy defenseless against any attacks.

He attacked again, the beam saber seeming to move ominously slow as it aimed for the torso area. Then time moved normally and out of nowhere, the Strike blocked the attack with her shield.

"_Flay?_"

"I won't let you take him away from me again!" she screamed, obviously at Rau.

"_I remember this voice … and yet things might have turned out differently if I knew it better._" Rau contemplated.

His funnels started their attack runs again, this time aiming for Flay in the Strike. As they approached, Kira fired a shot from his Balaenas and destroyed one. The remaining two fired, but faster than Kira thought was possible, Flay let go of the shield, grabbed a beam saber and re-deflected Rau's saber. Kira knew this couldn't end well with Rau's funnels still roaming about.

"_Flay, your Armor Schneiders!_" Kira ordered.

Not questioning the odd commands from her boyfriend, Flay complied and opened the hip compartments, allowing the handles to be seen. Kira grabbed the right one first, letting the blade extend and then rammed it just below the beam emitter of the saber in Rau's shield.

Sparks flew as the saber overloaded and shut down. Flay brought her own saber down and aimed it for the Providence's cockpit. She had barely made contact with the armor when the funnels appeared from behind their cover and attacked, destroying the saber as Flay retreated from the bits. As she flew backwards, Kira grabbed the left Schneider and barely waiting for the blade he stabbed it into the small gouge Flay had made in the Phase Shift armor.

The tip of the blade cut deep into Rau's chest, exposing his entire body to hard vacuum. "_This isn't over …_" he mumbled. As if to confirm his words, Jachin Due was covered in explosions as the base self-destructed. On cue, the GENESIS array began to power up and fire.

"_Look out Flay!_" Kira warned, grabbing and throwing the Strike clear of the powerful energy beam. With his girlfriend safe, Kira stole one last glance as the Providence as it was vaporized by the beam. Facing the danger head-on, the last conscious thought that entered his mind was Flay screaming his name in fear. Kira very quickly knew nothing but white, and then darkness.

* * *

And that's the end of the war ...  
hold on, an Epilogue to go.  
And Reviews are nice ...

Prayer


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue

* * *

Flay stared into the depths of space. Her frantic search had finally come to an end. Before floated the twisted remains of the once proud and might Freedom Gundam. And inside the once-feared suit, was the one person she truly loved. He was none other than the talented, caring, lovable, cute and funny Kira Yamato. 

The Freedom looked more round than it did, mostly thanks to the GENESIS being fired. It was missing its head, all of its right arm and both legs. The wings and hip cannons were gone as well, leaving Flay to wonder just how it and its pilot had survived such a dreadful experience.

"Kira, I'm coming, just hold on." She whispered to no one.

She tried the outside panel to open the cockpit, but there was no power left. Cursing lightly, her next move was to try the explosive bolts that would, in an emergency, blow the hatch off. Luck was with her this time; the bolts performed their duties and very quickly granted Flay access into the cockpit.

Kira was floating, his eyes wide open, but unfocused. Her first fear was he was dead, staring into emptiness like that, but slowly his eyes trained themselves on her. A smile started to tug at the corners of his lips as he registered who it was. "Flay …" he murmured.

"I'm here Kira." She assured him.

He moved forward, but he forgot that he was still strapped into the seat. Fumbling around the suddenly awkward release switch, Kira finally got the straps off and floated towards Flay. Their arms outstretched, they hugged each other tightly, as if once afraid of losing each other. As soon her body came into contact with his, Kira passed out.

And for the first time in months, awoke gently, but in a place all-too familiar to him. He was in the infirmary of the _Archangel_, and beside the bed he was resting in, was Flay, sleeping soundly and peacefully, looking innocently beautiful. He smiled and sighed contently, and then lightly stroked her hair. "We did it." He remembered quietly, and then he fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Kira and Flay sat side by side in the mess hall of the _Archangel_ for perhaps the last time ever. It was three days after the war had officially ended, and even now, talks between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance were taking place. The delegates of Orb from the _Kusanagi_ had been asked to attend as well, so Kisaka, Cagalli and a few others boarded a shuttle and met with the other nations. While happy that the government leaders were sitting down to discuss the future, Kira was not very optimistic in regards to the delegates actually deciding anything. 

Flay was less pessimistic than her boyfriend. "So what are you going to do with your life now that the fighting is over?" she asked.

He considered her choice of words for a second. She had used 'fighting' instead of 'war'. Shrugging, he replied "I'm not too sure. Manager Simmons has offered me a job at Morgenroete once it's rebuilt, or maybe it's for rebuilding it ... but I'm not entirely sure that I want to be reminded of the tragedies again."

"She offered me a job as well. With your skills, you get work as a programmer or technician anywhere." Flay told him.

"I know ... I'll decide when we get there. What about you? She offered you a job, but I think that's not all you've been offered."

Flay hesitated for a second. "It's ... the Earth Alliance. They want me to take my father's position as a Vice Minister, regardless if the peace talks are successful or not."

Kira took one of Flay's hands in his. "I'll support any decision you make, but politics? Yeesh, that's the one fight I would lose."

Before Flay could move, Dearka strolled in and sat down opposite of the couple. "So here's where you two are." he said.

"Is someone looking for us?" Flay asked.

"No, only I was. Everyone's been going crazy trying to plan what they're going to do and it got me thinking."

"So what are you planning to do?" Kira asked.

"I don't know if I can do anything. I betrayed ZAFT and joined forces with a bunch of fugitives and helped to destroy the GENESIS cannon. As a traitor to my people, I'd probably be executed the moment I stepped onto a PLANT." Dearka told them sadly.

"So come with us. Or go to Orb. No one said any of us have to go back home, even if we had a home to go back to."

"Then what are your plans for the future?" Dearka asked.

"I think I'm going to become a Vice Minister for the Alliance."

"Are you crazy? Politics? I think I'd rather be executed!"

"Men, they're all alike." a new voice said from the doorway.

Dearka stood. "Miriallia."

"Several shuttles and a few representatives are arriving soon to organize everything. The _Archangel_ will be decommissioned and we'll be sent where ever we want to go."

Their hands would be forced sooner that anyone thought. "Wait! Where are you going then?" Dearka asked hurriedly.

"I'm not sure, where ever my travels take me. I'm going to be a photographer and try to cherish life for once instead of watching it die all of the time."

"_All crewmembers report to the hangar bay._"

Kira stood shakily, supported by Flay, and the four left for the hangar bay ... and the future.

Not even Destiny can know what is in store for the future.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed everything I've put up so far. It means a lot to me to see that there are so many supporters of Flay out there, because last time I checked, there were about 4 of us, myself included.

* * *

This isn't the end, nor is it the beginning, but it is the end of the beginning. Those words hold true, as the sequel is next. Below is an exciting preview of "Gundam V90" 

_Dreams of Destiny_:

Lacus walked down the hallway without the slightest bit of fear in her steps. Barely two steps behind her was her bodyguard, a new one, nervously glancing around at all of the empty cells. This prison block in particular was reserved for the most dangerous of criminals the security forces caught. And at this particular time, there was only one occupant.

Kira Yamato.

Yzak had pulled many strings to get Kira locked up in here, believing that no one would be able to see him or even attempt a rescue. But the former Duel pilot hadn't counted on Lacus' enormous influence among the Triad. And so, she was given top-level clearance for the day. Finally, her journey came to an end as Cell 956 finally came into view.

Inside the small cell was a lavatory, a bed and no window. On the bed was the cell's occupant, the once-famed and mysterious Kira Yamato. There was no way he couldn't have heard her walking, even her light footsteps echoed through the drab hallway.

He did not move, nor acknowledge her presence. A small hand signal informed her bodyguard to give her a bit of room and privacy, and he reluctantly complied. Once she felt he was sufficiently out of earshot, she spoke. "Kira?"

And still he did not move. She tried again. "Kira Yamato."

Perhaps seeing that she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, Kira rolled upright and turned his head to face her. "Lacus Clyne, what a surprise." his voice was devoid of emotion, except for boredom, and perhaps a bit of contempt.

"Why did you do it Kira?" she asked.

"Do what? Allow myself to fall into that bastard's plans? Why did I not kill him when I had the chance? Do what, Lacus?" anger crept into his voice.

"Why did you try to kill Yzak?" she clarified.

"Action, reaction. I know now that this wasn't driven because of the First War, but rather because of you. He tried to kill me before I moved to the Orb safe house, and when I found out that he was in Orb, I decided to strike preemptively." his words held no regret.

"Yzak may not be the nicest person around, but he dreams of peace. Peace Kira, just as I dream about peace." she argued.

Kira stood and walked up to the cell bars, leaving only a handful of inches between himself and Lacus. He narrowed his eyes. "What do you see first when you wake up Lacus? What's the first thing that enters your mind?" Kira asked his tone unforgiving.

"The joy of a new day," she answered simply, "the hope that today will be just as good as the day before, if not better."

"You know what I see?" Kira forged on, not giving the songstress a chance to actually answer. "The flames of war, engulfing me and the world again and again. I see my destiny Lacus. War is who I am, who I've become and who I'll forever be. You can't fight fire with fire, not if you want to live, you have to accept it, and destroy it from the inside. That is what I do; it will be a part of me forever."

"That's not true Kira, and you know it. No one as kind as you would be a part of war willingly." Lacus replied, trying to shake him of his pessimisms.

"Everyone I've met thought I was a nice boy, friendly and cheerful. And I was, a long time ago. I got involved in the war and it began to destroy me, piece by piece, my sanity disappeared. Flay helped me to regain some of it, but it wasn't enough. Until I figured out how to survive. I used my kindness; I turned it into a weapon. I dream of violence, murders, torture, everything, and I can't stand it. I fight for that, I use my kindness, and I'll continue to fight until I die." he clenched his cell bars tightly.

"But we're trying to stop the war, all wars, from happening." she said softly.

A bitter laugh echoed the hallway. "You're far too late Lacus; the only way to stop this war is to fight. And I can't fight if I'm stuck behind these bars!" he punched his cage violently before turning around.

Lacus jumped at the sudden outburst from his fists. "Who will you fight?" it was eerily similar to when Kira had to leave the PLANTs during the First War.

"Whoever is perpetrating this war." the lack of emotion in his answer sent chills down her spine.

Inspired by Yuugiri's "Happy Birthday Bunny!" dream of Lacus Clyne. (oddly enough eh? To be inspired by something so happy and cheerful and turn it into something like that)

V90 will be chock-full of action, suspense and romance (or at least I hope so), keep your eyes peeled for it!

Prayer Out!


End file.
